Berk High School: Friends and Rivals
by DillPickle56
Summary: Hiccup Haddock and Astrid Hofferson are two ninth graders at Berk High School. He has a tough time making friends. She just lost her dad. When they meet, they instantly make great friends, but will their relationship blossom despite the pressure of high school and the threat of a serial killer? Rated T for romance and scary moments (My first story, and yes, I ship Hiccstrid!)
1. Chapter 1: Old Friends

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **Hi, guys! This is DillPickle56, and this is my first fanfic on the archive! I have to admit I'm a bit nervous, but it comes with the territory, right? Without giving too much away, this story begins in September 2016 and ends in June 2017. This was originally written a little while ago, so I've had to change a few things, including the year, just to make things a bit more consistent. The story is actually undergoing a full rewrite. I realize that I shouldn't be providing context, but I feel like I have to, for some reason. I don't know.**

 **Anyway, my hope is that you'll enjoy reading this, and please don't be too hard on me in the reviews (I define "too hard" as roasting). If this story deserves any disclaimers, it's that I'm aware that there isn't _actually_ a town called Berk in the United States. Let's just pretend Berk is somewhere in the middle of the US.**

 **Also, I'm going to intentionally keep politics out of this story, not just because I want to respect my readers' opinions, but also to avoid any sort of political arguing in the comments or reviews, whatever you want to call them. This is not a politics club; it's a fan community, and I want it to be treated as such.**

 **Uploads will depend on my schedule, but since I do most of my editing in the cloud and most of my refining in LibreOffice, I don't expect chapters to be too far apart in terms of time. In fact, you can expect to see another story I'm working on pretty soon. It's an AU where Hiccup has an adoptive brother, but there's something very special about him that will remain unspecified until the story progresses. I swapped him with Heather in this fanfic for … no legitimate reason. I'll just make it clear that Hiccup and Heather are actually twins in this one, before anyone gets too confused.**

 **I've wasted enough of your brain cells with all this stuff that you should find out in due time anyway, so let's all relax and start over.**

 **I'm just kidding!**

 **Enjoy, and please review! I may not reply to every review I get, but I will read them, so please review! Stick around for another note at the end of this chapter.**

* * *

 _Most people don't know about Berk. We're just like any other town. We have a school, we have a mayor, we have a mall; we have just about everything any other town would have. We don't get a lot of tourists. The only thing that seems to attract outsiders is Berk Lake. Like all other towns, however, we have problems. We have crime_ _here_ _, just like any other_ _place_ _. And what are criminals before they commit crimes? Bullies, normally. At least, I think most criminals nowadays were bullies as kids. Some_ were _bullied._

 _This is a story about someone who was bullied, but with the help of his friends, rose above … well, I really can't say, because that would spoil the ending. Let's begin_ _with the reason I mentioned criminals_ _…_

* * *

 _Thursday September 1, 2016_

 _1_ _0:30 AM_

 _Berk PD_

Scott Haddock, Captain of the Berk Police Department, stared at his office whiteboard in disappointment. "Still no luck?" he asked.

"None, sir," said Detective Janet Nelson. "All we know is that the MO matches DD in every way. Our big problem is that his fingerprints aren't in our system, so we can't determine whether it was him or not."

"Let's not assume anything yet," said Scott. "So, there were no footprints at the crime scene, and the bullet retrieved from Harold's body was from a handgun. That much we know. Anything on the car our perpetrator was using?"

"We know he stole it on the night of the murder because the car wasn't missing until then," said Janet. "No fingerprints on the steering wheel, suggesting he was wearing gloves. After we got the stolen car report from Mr. Chandler, we sent out a canvas of the area to find the vehicle. From that point, Detective Hofferson pursued the car to Berk Lake Road. The perpetrator crashed the car, and Hofferson pulled over. Hofferson got out of his car, but he didn't have time to draw his gun. He was shot in the heart from long range."

"The bullet came from the same handgun that was used in the other murders with this same MO," said Scott. "It's the same as always with this guy, Janet. And there's another problem. Not only were there no footprints at the scene because of the rain, but there was no evidence of human presence in the surrounding area. If he's hiding in the forest, he's too well hidden for us to find him there."

"What if the killer had another car at the scene, and used it to get away?"

That caught Scott's attention. He looked down at his watch and said, "We'll work on that theory tomorrow. We should all rest up. It's late."

Janet looked over the chief's shoulder, staring into the opposite side of the office window. "I guess there's someone here to see you."

Scott turned towards the open office door and saw Karen Hofferson standing outside. "Karen! I wasn't expecting you. Please, sit down."

"I'm not here for tea, Scott," said Karen, her tone sharp. "My daughter is growing impatient. She wants to know who killed Harold, and so do I!"

"Well, right now, we don't exactly have very many leads," said Scott. "We think this might be a random killing by DD. We've never been able to catch him."

"So, you think he may have just been shot for no reason?"

"That's what it looks like," said Janet. "Everything about the case matches DD's MO completely."

Karen stared blankly at the whiteboard. "Just crime scene photos, evidence, and everything else, but no suspects except some enigma without a mugshot? He may as well not exist."

"But of course he exists!" Scott insisted. "No other serial killer has this calling card. We just haven't found his real name or any sort of identifying information yet."

"You know what? Fine," said Karen. "I'll let you do your investigation. My daughter goes back to school tomorrow, so you'd better do something about this. I don't want her failing the ninth grade because her father was murdered at random!" She stormed out of the office.

Janet sighed. "Sir, it _is_ late. We should go home."

"You're right," said Scott. He excused Janet from the office and took his personal phone out of his pocket. His lock screen read a text message from his wife, Valarie. _The kids have gone to bed, and so should you if you want to solve the case with a clear mind._

Scott didn't reply. Instead, he pocketed his phone, turned off his office lights, and started to lock up the place to go home. He said hello to the guard working the night shift and made his way to the parking lot.

* * *

 _8:04 AM_

 _Frida_ _y_ _September 2, 2016_

 _H_ _addock Residence_

Harry "Hiccup" Haddock and his sister, Heather Haddock, were getting ready for their school day. Their dad had left early in the morning to get an early start at the police department, and their mom had just said goodbye to them on the way out to her job at the vet. The twins' living situation was kind of awkward. They lived in a two bedroom apartment, so they shared a small bedroom with a bunk bed. Hiccup occupied the lower bunk.

"How are you doing, Hiccup?" asked Heather, sitting on the lower bunk to tie her shoes.

"Snotlout's been bugging me again, but I can handle it," said Hiccup, referring to his cousin Stanley, who was just two months younger than they were.

"'Handle it?'" Heather repeated. "On your own? Hiccup, you've got to realize that he's outright bullying you. The sheer amount of bullying he's done is punishable by suspension."

"I don't want to tell on him, because he'll bully me even more," said Hiccup.

"If that's what you think, how are you going to get him to stop?" asked Heather.

"Why don't you do it, then?" asked Hiccup.

"Because I'd make myself look bad for snitching on Stanley," said Heather.

Hiccup finished tugging his shoe on and said, "Just face it. He won't stop."

"Okay," said Heather. She decided to change the subject. "What about friends? You making any good friends?"

"Nobody new," said Hiccup.

"The best time to make new friends is when school starts, Hiccup," said Heather. "I've already met this dude, Garret. He's funny, but he's kind of introverted; not as much as you, though. You might want to meet him."

"First of all, we're in separate classes," said Hiccup. "Secondly, do you really think I'd make a good first impression? Look at me! I'm clumsy, I've only got one foot, I can barely keep up a good conversation without stuttering, and most importantly, I'm lankier than a scarecrow!"

"Don't talk like that!" said Heather. "Doubting yourself isn't going to help you at all."

"Maybe we should be more focused on the time," said Hiccup. "Look. It's 8:05 right now and it's a ten-minute bike ride to school. We might as well hurry." Before Heather could reply, Hiccup exited the room and headed downstairs.

Unwilling to give up, Heather pulled out her iPhone and opened the Messages app. She scrolled to the name "George Ingerman" and typed, _Hey, Fishlegs. Can we meet up at lunch? I need your advice on something. See you then._ She sent the text and locked her phone as she got up to leave.

* * *

 _8:21 AM_

 _Berk High School_

In front of Berk High School was a large courtyard. Students often used it as a place to congregate and meet with their study groups. At the side of the courtyard opposite the school was the parking lot. The courtyard itself had walkways for students to walk on so their shoes wouldn't get damp from the wet grass in the morning. Benches were littered around the courtyard, one occupied by George "Fishlegs" Ingerman, a freshman. With a phone in hand and a book on his lap, he was typing a reply message to a text he'd received from his best friend's sister.

 _Sure thing, Heather. I'll be near the grass field._ George put his phone back in his pocket and picked up the book he'd been reading. Before he could open it, though, he noticed a familiar blonde figure in front of him, walking on the pathway towards the school. Recognizing the person almost immediately, he stood up from the bench and said, "Astrid?" The girl stopped, but didn't turn around. "Astrid, is that you?"

She turned around and stared blankly at him for a second. "Fishlegs?"

"Yeah! We went to elementary school together!" said George.

"Fishlegs, my goodness!" said Astrid, smiling. "I barely recognized you!"

"I know," said George. "I'm a bit more husky than I used to be."

"Your face is a bit different, too," said Astrid.

"I haven't seen you at all," said George. "Have you not been to school?"

"No," said Astrid. "Remember the shooting on Monday? It was my dad who got…" She stared down at her feet, unable to finish her sentence.

"Oh," said George. "I'm very sorry to hear that. Do they know who did it?"

"No," said Astrid. "But my dad's partner at the police department says she thinks it might have been a serial killer called DD."

They sat on the bench for a few minutes, catching up with each other. After a while, Astrid asked, "Are you guys still getting oriented, or are you already starting to learn stuff?"

"Still getting oriented a bit," said George. "Do you want a tour of the place?"

"No, thanks," said Astrid. "I'd better head over to Math class. What do you have first?"

"Engineering," said George. He looked down at his watch. "Yeah, it's about that time."

* * *

 _8:30 AM_

In the Math classroom, Hiccup tried not to look at his cousin, who had just written 'You won't even pass the first week!' on a sticky note on Hiccup's desk. _Why didn't they put Heather in my class?_ he thought to himself. _She would speak for me._ He pretended not to notice the paper and avoided looking at Stanley.

The classroom door opened behind him and he took a quick glance to see who it was. His friend Jack walked in, followed by a familiar blonde girl with a blue shirt and blue jeans. He quickly turned back, pretending not to notice.

When his math teacher, Mr. Johann, took attendance, Hiccup said, "Here," when his name was called, and was surprised to hear an all too familiar name called after his.

"Astrid?"

"Here."

Hiccup immediately knew who the new blonde girl was. He couldn't remember her last name, but he had gone to elementary school with her. He'd had a childhood crush on her, but had never said anything to her about it. Now, more than ever, he tried his best to ignore her, but he couldn't help staring for a moment. He noticed that she seemed strangely sad.

"You like her?" his table partner, David, whispered.

"She went to elementary school with me," said Hiccup. "And yeah, I kinda do. Not that I'd say it openly to her. That would be creepy."

"You're right," said David. "You should try talking to her, at least."

"No thanks," said Hiccup.

"Your loss, Harry."

Unbeknownst to him, Astrid recognized Hiccup, too. _Why is_ _he pretending not to notice me_ _? Doesn't he recognize me?_ she silently wondered.

* * *

 _12:03 PM_

At lunch that day, Heather caught up with Fishlegs and Jack. She sat down next to them at their preferred lunch table.

"Hi, Heather," said Fishlegs. "What is it you wanted to talk to me about?"

"It's Hiccup," said Heather. "He refuses to be social in any way. He's just sticking to himself and I don't know what to do to help him make friends."

"I wanted to talk to you about that, too," said Fishlegs.

"I noticed he's been very adamant about being a loner," said Jack. "I wanted to get him to make more friends, but I couldn't think of a way to do it without seeming intrusive to him."

"So, we're on the same page," said Heather. "Are you willing to introduce him to more people?"

"Well, I did notice him gawking at a girl who came into class a bit late today," said Jack. "I've never seen her before."

"Who?" asked Fishlegs.

"Here she comes right now," said Jack, looking up.

Astrid walked over to the table and said, "Hey, Fishlegs. Who's this?"

"Astrid, this is my friend Jack, and this is Heather," said Fishlegs.

"Oh, yeah," said Heather, starting to recognize Astrid. "Astrid. I remember you."

"Yeah," said Astrid. "You're the police chief's daughter, right?"

"Yeah," said Heather. "Jack noticed my brother staring at you in class earlier."

"I remember him from elementary school," said Astrid. She chuckled. "Not a lot's changed, has it?"

"We have to get the two of you to hang out," said Fishlegs. "Maybe that would help remedy some of Harry's social problems."

"It very well might," said Heather. "You wouldn't mind staying for a while after school to meet him, would you?"

"Not at all," said Astrid. "I know he's super shy, but I've wanted to talk to him since this morning."

"That's good," said Jack. "That means Harry might have a new friend already."

"I guess that's settled," said Heather.

* * *

3:35 PM

After school that day, Hiccup stayed a while in the engineering class to work on a side project he'd been doing outside his class time. He had been designing a 3D model of a dragon on his MacBook. The dragon was completely black, with a small head and large wings. It looked like a flying reptilian cat. It wasn't very detailed, but he was proud of what he'd accomplished so far. He was working on the wings when he heard the door open and in walked Heather, Fishlegs and, to Hiccup's dismay, Astrid.

"Hey, guys," he said, casually.

"Harry, I'd like you to meet a friend of mine," said Fishlegs. "I'm not sure you remember Astrid from elementary school."

"Yeah," said Hiccup. "I do remember. Any particular reason why you're asking?"

"Why did you stare at me and not try to talk to me earlier?" asked Astrid. "You seem like a nice person. If you want to be friends, the first step is talking, not necessarily staring."

"Oh, you noticed?" asked Hiccup, embarrassed by this statement.

"You bet I noticed," said Astrid. "I also noticed back in elementary school."

Hiccup closed his laptop and said, "I thought I would creep you out if you noticed. That's why I stopped."

"Maybe I would have been if we were a bit older at the time," said Astrid. "I thought it was cute."

Red in the face with embarrassment, Hiccup looked for a way to change the subject. Noticing that his sister and Fishlegs were gone, he asked, "Where did Fishlegs and Heather go?"

Astrid looked back and saw that Fishlegs and Heather had left. "Weird," she said. "They introduced us and left."

"That's rude," said Hiccup. He looked down at his phone and noticed it was out of power. "This might sound weird, but can I borrow your phone? Mine's dead and I need to send a text."

"Sure," said Astrid. She unlocked her iPhone and handed it to him.

As Hiccup opened the Messages app, he noticed the home screen picture. "Is that your dad?" he asked.

Astrid hesitated before saying, "Yeah. That was my dad."

Hiccup stopped typing the number and said, "Wait! I recognize him. Was he the police officer who…?"

With a sad, downcast expression on her face, Astrid said, "Yeah. He was the one killed last week."

"Astrid … I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything. I just want his killer brought to justice." She looked Hiccup in the eyes and said, "Your dad's the police chief, isn't he?"

"He's working the best he can," said Hiccup. "I'll have you know they've been chasing this guy for years."

"My dad never told me about that," said Astrid.

"Perhaps it's because he has a habit of targeting police officers," said Hiccup.

"So he has a personal vendetta against policemen?" asked Astrid.

"That's what my dad told me," said Hiccup, beginning to compose the text message. "Maybe your dad never told you because he didn't want you to be afraid for him, even though you have every right to."

"Not a lot scares me," said Astrid.

"But we're all scared of those we care about getting hurt," said Hiccup. "Every time my dad leaves the house, it could be the very last day I see him. You know there are people out there crazy enough to go after police."

Astrid couldn't think of a way to argue with Hiccup's statement. "Still, I'd like him brought to justice as soon as possible," she said.

"As would I," said Hiccup, handing Astrid's phone back to her, "but it's out of our hands."

"That's what I hate," said Astrid.

"I understand," said Hiccup.

"Do you?" Astrid snapped. _How dare he say he understands my pain!_ she thought.

"More than you think," he said, lifting his left pants leg to reveal a metal and plastic prosthetic limb. Astrid immediately felt a pang of guilt. How could she have been so judgmental towards him? Before she could apologize for her rudeness, Heather walked in and said, "Hiccup, we should go. Mom's texting me."

"Okay," said Hiccup, picking up his laptop to pack into his bag.

"Wait, your nickname is 'Hiccup'?" asked Astrid, starting to laugh.

"Heather, why did you say that?" Hiccup complained. "I hate it when people at school call me that. It's like some dumb joke."

"Would you mind if I called you that?" asked Astrid. "I think it's a cool nickname."

Hiccup blushed and asked, "Do you actually think so?"

"Yeah," said Astrid, following Hiccup and Heather throughout the hallway to the front door.

As they walked out of the school, they passed by a muscular boy with black hair who said, "How's it going, one leg?"

"Dude, would you stop making that joke?" Hiccup grumbled. "It's not funny anymore."

"How does it feel, though?" asked the boy. "You can't even play sports."

"Leave him alone!" said Astrid. "You're being very insensitive! And the sports thing isn't true! There are a lot of amputees and otherwise disabled people who play sports just like anyone else can, so you can't say he can't play sports! He can, and you probably know it!"

"Why so defensive about him all of a sudden?" asked the boy. "Are you dating him or something? 'Cause you could do better." He flexed his muscles.

Astrid promptly punched him in the shoulder and said, "Come on, guys. Give Mr. Bully some time to think about what he just said."

As they walked out to the bike racks, Hiccup said, "Thanks for that, Astrid."

"You're welcome," said Astrid. "For what, specifically?"

"For standing up to Stanley like that," said Hiccup. "No one besides Heather has ever done that."

"Oh," said Astrid. "Well, you're welcome, I guess."

"We should all hang out sometime outside school," said Heather. "We'll talk more later on, okay?"

"Okay," said Astrid. "See you guys later!"

"See you later, Astrid!" said Hiccup. He mounted his bike and started riding away with Heather on his tail.

For once in his life, Hiccup was actually happy to go to school. He'd just made friends with someone he'd only dreamed of talking to. He knew from then on that it was going to be a great year.

* * *

 **Did you enjoy that? I hope so. Stick around, though! Notice this story isn't labeled "Completed". I can't leave you with just an introduction! This is barely the start of it! So many unanswered questions! Who's DD and who's Jack? Well, that's easily answered. Jack's my OC who originated from my other AU that rewrites parts of the original HTTYD plot. Since this is an AU, there will be parallels to the original HTTYD story, but I'll save that for future chapters.**

 **Not interested in a modern AU? That's okay! I've got something else for you! _You might like it!_**

 **While I'm here, I should probably put some backstory behind this chapter. So, a long time ago, when I was in elementary school, I had a crush on a girl I ate lunch with every day. I never told her this, and she shall remain unnamed on this story. I was so nervous that I might have had to dance with her at a dance event we had at the school in our last year, and I didn't end up with her as a dance partner, which I was relieved to find out, but at the same time kind of sad. When we left elementary school, I didn't see her again until my high school orientation, and I barely recognized her because we'd been to separate middle schools. I had pretty much lost interest in dating and didn't plan to do so until at least after graduation, but I still like her. I didn't get to hang out with her much in high school because we were always in separate classes, but we talked. That's pretty much where the basis of this story ends. Hiccup and Astrid are completely separate entities from what this girl and I were in school. If you guys think the shipping comes a little too fast in the later chapters, I understand, but the shipping started a little abruptly in the movie too, which is a discussion I'll save for my other story that I'll post later on.**

 **My name is DillPickle56, and I'll see you soon! Bye!**


	2. Chapter 2: Communication

**Hi, guys! Before I even start writing this chapter, I should probably explain why I didn't get started before. I went out of town for the weekend, and I hit some serious writer's block when I got home for reasons I won't try to explain, but I will say this: Tuesday was just one of those days when I just felt lousy and got NO housework done. I just felt like trash all day. I started to feel better towards the end of the day, but I wasted all the time I could have spent writing. Don't ask why, because I actually don't know what that was all about. I just had a lousy mood day. Then Wednesday (the day I started writing this chapter), I was out of the house all day, and when I got back it took a while to get settled. So I'm about to write the chapter right now.**

 **Actually, before we get started, I wanted to take the time to respond to some of the reviews I got.**

 **DragonLover07: As the first of those who wrote reviews on this, I'd like to thank you for letting me know you like it. This gives me some encouragement to go on with!**

 **SoundwavesGirl273: Well, here you go! It's here!**

 **Anonymous Guest: I don't even remember why I made them twins. I guess it just seemed like a good idea, and ever since Heather was a part of "Riders of Berk", I've thought of her as part of the "Dragon Riders crew". She actually plays a huge role in my Dragons deviation plot series (Dragons of Berk), but you'll have to wait until the third story, which may take a while to start.**

 **Another Anonymous Guest: Well, the anecdote wasn't the first thing on my mind when I started rewriting this story, but I thought about it and decided, because of my experience, to put Hiccup into a similar situation. All I really did was change the outcome. I do appreciate you mentioning it, though, because I was a bit nervous when I put that up, and I tried to cover my anxiety with the happy beginning to the concluding author's note. Then again, I do have a tendency to explain myself for things that don't always require an explanation.**

 **That's all I can respond to right now. Enjoy the chapter, and I'll see you in the next one! Keep an eye out for the next chapter of** ** _Dragons of Berk_** **.**

* * *

 _4:00 PM_

 _Friday September 2, 2016_

 _Hofferson Residence_

When Astrid got home, she took out her phone, opened the Messages app, and noticed it was still on the text that Hiccup had sent. Unable to help herself, she read it. _Hi, Gobber! It's Hiccup. Do you have any spare black ink for the 3D printer somewhere? I might need some for my dragon project. Reply on my regular cell number. Thanks!_ Just that short text message was enough to kindle Astrid's curiosity about Hiccup even more. Luckily, Heather had given her his number, but she decided not to text him yet. She had another friend to take care of.

As she walked into her bedroom, her pet bird Stormfly squawked from her cage and said, "Hello!"

"Hello!" Astrid replied. "How are you?"

"How are you!" Stormfly replied. "Pretty bird!" It was true. Stormfly _was_ pretty. Her feathers were sky blue with gorgeous gold accents. When Astrid let Stormfly out of her cage, she put the bird on her shoulder and walked back downstairs to the kitchen, where she unloaded her backpack. Her mother was preparing fruit for her to eat.

"So, how was school?" Karen asked her daughter.

"Better than I expected," said Astrid. "And I made a new friend."

"Really? Who?" asked Karen.

"His name is Harry," said Astrid. "Harry Haddock."

"What?" Karen said. "I can't believe you said that! He's the police chief's son, isn't he?"

Astrid was shocked at her mother's reaction. "Mom, why are you concerned about that? Have you even met him? If you'd seen him today, you wouldn't be saying that. He knows more about this DD person than either of us."

"And what makes you think that?" asked Karen.

"He knows DD is a serial killer who's been killing police for years," said Astrid. "Can you imagine what it's like for him to watch his father leave every day, knowing it could be the last day he sees him alive? I was never prepared in that sort of way at any point."

"That lousy chief hasn't been able to catch this scoundrel!" Karen yelled.

"Mom, I can't believe you!" said Astrid. "DD's been investigated in other states, too! New York, Florida, Texas, and so on! Nobody has ever gotten close to truly identifying him, so I don't know why you're putting all the blame on Chief Haddock!"

"Where did you hear this?" asked Karen.

"I Googled him on the way home," said Astrid. "You knew about him, didn't you?"

Unable to reply, Karen went back to washing the dishes in silence.

Astrid then realized Stormfly had been sitting on her shoulder the entire time, staring between Astrid and her mother. She let the bird off her shoulder and emptied her lunchbox in the kitchen before scooping the bird up again and taking her to the living room to study the class syllabuses.

* * *

 _Meanwhile_

Heather opened the garage door on the way into the apartment, allowing Hiccup to ride his bike into the house without stopping in front. As he got off his bike, he said to Heather, "I never thought she'd be so nice to me."

"What did you expect?" asked Heather, closing the garage door behind them and dismounting her bike.

"I don't know," said Hiccup. "I guess I thought she would be rude to me, like everyone else is. Everyone always asks me questions about things I don't have much control over. I look severely underweight and, besides that, I'm afraid to go to school with shorts on, even though it's so warm."

"Because of your leg?" asked Heather.

Hiccup nodded. "I'm so self-conscious about it."

Heather thought for a moment. "Maybe if people saw it, they would have more sympathy for you."

"Maybe so, but then Snotlout would make more fun of me," said Hiccup. He was taking his shoes off to go inside.

"Then that would make _him_ look bad," said Heather. "Have you ever considered that?"

"No," said Hiccup. He entered the small room to walk up the stairs to the apartment's living room. Heather soon followed to find Hiccup cradling his kitten Toothless. "Hi, buddy," he said, scratching the cat's ears. "How you doing?" The kitten mewed and Hiccup put him down to fill a small bowl of kitten milk in the kitchen. Before long, Toothless was taking his small sips from his bowl. Hiccup emptied his lunchbox and almost offered to empty Heather's as well, but saw that she was already doing so. He then plugged his phone into an outlet on the kitchen counter to charge it.

Before long, their mother came down the second flight of stairs that led to the bedrooms and bathroom. "Hi, Mom!" said Hiccup and Heather in unison.

"Hi, kids!" said Valerie. "You can expect your father to come home early tonight."

"Why?" asked Hiccup. "Should we be worried?"

"No," said Valerie. "That won't do him any good. He's been under a lot of stress."

"Does it have to do with the investigation into Hofferson's death?" asked Heather.

"It has everything to do with that," said Valerie. "Maybe he'll talk about it when he gets home, which should be right about now." She looked down at her watch, which read 4:07.

As if on cue, Scott Haddock entered the room from the stairs to the garage. He was a tall man with a muscular build, red hair, and a thick red beard. He put his gun on the coffee table next to his favorite chair and sat in it, barely acknowledging the children. An awkward five seconds passed by before he finally said, "Hey, kids. Sorry; it's just been a stressful day. I didn't get enough sleep last night."

"No, you didn't," said Valerie. "You got four hours at most. You spent almost all night studying the case files."

Scott tried to defend himself by saying, "Comparing the MO to that of other serial killers, looking at the crime scene photos, searching for anything that could help us catch this monster quicker! And that Hofferson woman … she doesn't understand why we can't catch him. This killer leaves no clues. It's as if she believes we're magic."

"You mean his wife?" asked Hiccup.

"She's been such a prick to me ever since the investigation began," he said. "I haven't met her expectations."

"Don't let her get to you," said Valerie.

"She's been getting to me ever since we started suspecting DD," said Scott. "There's nothing I can do." He paused for a moment. "There's something else. Motive. That's the other thing we can't seem to pin down. We have the means and the opportunity with which to work, but no motive. Can we just talk about something else? I want to forget all of this while I'm home."

"I guess this is a bad time to mention that I met her daughter at school today?" Hiccup said/asked. He intentionally used an asking tone because he wasn't sure what his dad would think.

"What?" Stoick said. "You met Astrid? So Karen wasn't joking when she said Astrid would start school today."

"When did she say that?" asked Heather.

"She walked into my office last night while Janet and I were having a discussion about the case," said Scott. "She was visibly upset. She demanded an update on the investigation, but I had little to offer. She even went as far as to question DD's existence because of our lack of a mugshot for him. And then she mentioned her daughter going back to school today. She said something about not wanting her to fail the ninth grade just because of her father's death."

"Ouch!" said Hiccup. "Dad! I can't believe she's putting this on you."

"That's not the worst part," said Scott. "We're running out of leads. This may go down as another cold case, just like all the others with this pattern."

"You mean whoever did this, DD or not, might walk free?" Valerie asked.

Scott nodded. "This is, by far, the worst case I've ever seen from this serial killer." A moment of sad silence went by before he asked Hiccup, "What's Astrid like? I've never actually met her."

"She's a very nice person, but when we got to the topic of her dad, she started to get visibly upset," said Hiccup. "I told her who you think it is, and she said she'd never heard of him. I guess her dad never told her about him because he didn't want her to be afraid."

"And is that what you told her?" asked Valerie.

"Yeah, and then she said that not a lot of things scare her," said Hiccup. "I told her that we're all afraid of losing people we care about. I think she understood. When we all walked out of the school, Stanley took a jab at me about my leg and how I 'can't play sports'. Astrid talked back to him in my defense."

"Stanley asked her whether she was dating Hiccup," said Heather. "Said she could do better. He even flexed his arm, and guess what Astrid did."

"What?" asked Scott.

"She punched him," said Heather.

Valerie started laughing while Scott said, "Wow! I didn't expect that!"

"Neither did I," said Hiccup. "That's the first time any of my classmates have stood up for me in such a bold way. Well, besides Heather, but she's never punched anyone."

"I just have one question for you, Hiccup," said Scott. "She didn't seem bitter towards you in any way, did she? I'm afraid of her mother's anger rubbing off on her."

"She only seemed to get mad when the topic of her father's death was brought up," said Hiccup. "Otherwise, she seemed very sweet."

"That's good," said Scott.

"Do you have any homework?" asked Valerie.

"No," said Hiccup. "I think we start getting homework next week."

"Great!" said Valerie. "I'll just start dinner."

Almost immediately, Hiccup's phone buzzed. When he checked it, there was a message for him from an unknown number. When he took it off the charger and checked it, he read the message silently:

 _Hi, Hiccup. It's Astrid. Heather gave me your number. Can we hang out tomorrow? I just want to talk. I know this is sudden, but I can't think of anyone I'd want to talk to about this besides you, especially after today._

"She wants to hang out tomorrow," said Hiccup.

"Does she?" asked Heather. "Wow! That was fast."

"She says she just wants to talk," he said, "and she says I'm the only person she wants to talk about it with."

"About what?" asked Valerie.

"Her father, I guess," said Hiccup.

Valerie thought for a moment. "Well, your dad has work tomorrow and I have to go shopping. Maybe it would be okay if she came to hang out here tomorrow."

In reply to Astrid's text, Hiccup typed, _Sure. Is 10:00 AM okay?_

As soon as he sent the text, Astrid replied, _Any time is a good time._

 _Hiccup: Great! See you then!_

 _Astrid: See ya!_

"She'll come at ten tomorrow," said Hiccup. He barely heard his mom saying something along the lines of "great" because he was puzzled at Astrid's message. He now knew what kind of toll her father's death had taken on her mother, but he was becoming increasingly concerned about Astrid's relationship with her. Perhaps Karen Hofferson didn't mean to be cruel, but Astrid made it sound like she didn't want to be at home. While Valerie cooked dinner, Hiccup continued to text Astrid.

 _Hiccup: Is something wrong?_

 _Astrid: Nothing serious._

 _Hiccup: You call grief not serious?_

He instantly regretted that message and followed it up with, _Never mind. We'll talk more tomorrow, okay?_

 _Okay,_ said Astrid.

Hiccup locked his phone and said, "Heather, can I talk to you for just a minute? In our room?"

"Sure," said Heather, following Hiccup upstairs to the small bedroom they shared.

As soon as they were in the room, Hiccup said, "I think this has something to do with Astrid's mom. What if she's become cruel to her, too?"

"You think she's afraid of her? Why?" said Heather. "I mean, it's very concerning, but I can't imagine what it must be like to feel the way she does."

"I'm afraid their relationship is breaking over this," said Hiccup. "And it's all because of this … monster."

Heather sighed. "Just wait until tomorrow," said Heather. "I'm sure you'll talk it out with her." She grinned. "Besides, I think she kind of likes you."

Flabbergasted, Hiccup was about to ask why she said that, but Heather left the room without saying anything more. Still, Hiccup remained concerned.

* * *

 _9:40 AM_

 _Saturday September 3, 2016_

 _Hofferson Residence_

As silly as it was, Astrid had a phone mount on her bicycle's handlebar. It was a gift from her father from the previous Christmas. He'd given it to her because her bicycle was her primary mode of transportation since both her parents worked, and she sometimes needed directions to go to some places. On this day, she fed Stormfly, made her own breakfast, and taken more smack talk from her mom about her choice of friends. She was finally ready to go, and Hiccup had sent her his address. She typed "214 Groundhog Street" into her phone and started receiving the directions. She kicked the kickstand up and started pedaling towards the route.

Fifteen minutes later, she arrived at a small town home with a garage on the ground floor and two extra floors upwards. She located a bike rack close by and locked her bike there. She walked up to the front of the house and rang the doorbell. A few seconds later, the speaker next to the bell crackled to life and a woman's voice came through.

"Is this Astrid Hofferson?" the voice asked.

"Yes, ma'am," said Astrid.

"Come on in." The speaker went silent.

The door clicked and Astrid opened the it to find a flight of stairs, a door to the garage, and a wall mounted key hook set. Seeing the numerous sets of shoes, she took hers off and walked upstairs. As she climbed, she saw a door. She climbed to the top of the stairs and, somewhat hesitantly, pushed the door open.

* * *

 **Quick Author's Note:**

 **I hope that was worth the wait. I'm sorry I took so long. It's actually Saturday now, and it's late. I will point out, though, that I modeled Hiccup's house after a community/town home. You know those multi-family homes that a lot of people live in because they can't afford to buy a single family house? It's a similar situation to that. In this instance, the Haddock family can probably afford to live in a single family home, but this will be factored in later in the story! I intentionally left the discussion between Hiccup and Astrid out and saved it for the next chapter. So, I'm sorry if this is short. I think it's actually shorter than the last chapter I did on this, but I still don't have LibreOffice completely figured out yet. This was all written and edited in the LibreOffice format, not in the Pages format I'm used to. Besides, how could I abandon you guys! I just HAD to get this up tonight. Again, keep an eye out for the next** ** _Dragons of Berk_** **chapter, and I'll see you soon!**


	3. Chapter 3: Hanging Out

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **Howdy! I was going to talk to you guys about how my other series,** ** _Dragons of Berk_** **, hasn't been getting much attention, but throughout the crazy week I had, I got some follows on it!** ** _Still._** **As you can probably tell, I'm crazy excited about that! I've been working on that series longer than I have this one, so it's easy to see why I'm happy about that.**

 **Anyway, here are my responses to the reviews.**

 **Anonymous Noob the 2** **nd** **: I'm glad you appreciate the mystery behind DD. I'm tempted to tell you a little bit, but I'm holding back to avoid spoilers.**

 **Guest: Well, it's not so much what Hiccup has to say to Astrid as it is what Astrid has to say to him. That's really all I can say. Again, no spoilers. I will say, though, that I'm glad you're interested in the story.**

 **I'd like to ask my guest reviewers to nickname yourselves if possible. I don't know how that works, but every guest review I get has to go through me before it gets put into the review section, so I'll get to read all of them in detail.**

 **Thank you to those of you who have left reviews thus far. I really mean it. When I ask for people to comment on my videos, I don't say that because I want a respectable comments section. There are times when I've really wanted people to comment on the videos because it influences future content, and the view count is greatly disproportionate to the amount of comments I get.**

 **Enough of my nagging about YouTube. I wasted 53 words on it. Let's get started!**

* * *

 _9:57 AM_

 _Saturday September 3, 2016_

 _Haddock Residence_

Hiccup's heartbeat quickened as Valerie remotely unlocked the door to let Astrid in. What would he say to her? More importantly, what would she say to him? Thoughts of this raced through his head as he heard Astrid's footsteps up the stairs to the living room. The door, which was slightly ajar, was pushed open by his new friend. What Heather had said to him the night before was still on his mind, but he tried not to think about it. His primary focus was making a good impression.

"Hi, Astrid!" he said as she walked in.

"Hi, Hiccup," said Astrid. She looked around, taking in the scene. The living space was a bit smaller than she was used to. The room was divided into thirds; a third of it was the kitchen, a small section of it hosted a dining table, and the rest of it was a living room with a TV, a couch and two comfortable looking chairs. There was a balcony outside the living room door with two chairs and a table. When Astrid finished taking it in, she said, "Nice place."

"You really think so?" asked Hiccup.

"Yeah," said Astrid. "Do you have any pets?"

" _Meow!"_

Astrid looked down and saw a tiny black kitten sniffing her foot. Upon seeing the creature, she laughed and said, "Aw, he's so cute!"

"Thanks," said Hiccup. "You can pick him up if you want. He won't mind." He approached her as she picked the kitten up off the floor. "His name is Toothless."

"Why?" asked Astrid.

Toothless meowed again and Astrid noticed he had small fangs, but no visible teeth. "Oh, my!" she exclaimed.

"That's why," said Hiccup. "My mom's a vet, and she rescued a litter of kittens recently. Nobody would take him, so we kept him."

"Speaking of whom, where is she?" asked Astrid.

Valerie entered the room from upstairs and said, "Right here." She was carrying shopping bags. "I need to go grocery shopping, but Hiccup and Heather will keep you company." Shaking Astrid's hand, she said, "I'm sorry I wasn't here to greet you at the door. I'm Valerie Haddock. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too," said Astrid. "Being a vet must keep you really busy, huh?"

"Not too busy for my family, thank goodness," said Valerie. "Hiccup, if you need anything, don't hesitate to call me."

"I won't," said Hiccup.

"You'd better not," said Valerie. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her keys. "See you later!"

"Bye, Mom," said Hiccup. He closed the stairway door behind her and looked once again at Astrid, who was still holding Toothless. The kitten started to lick her fingers.

"You're a sweet one, aren't you?" said Astrid, scratching Toothless's ears. She looked up at Hiccup. "Where's Heather?" she asked.

"She's tidying up our room," said Hiccup. "She's all about keeping it spotless."

"You share a room with Heather?" asked Astrid.

"Yeah," said Hiccup. "That's how little space we have here. My parents are looking to buy a house next year, but they're not sure where yet, and my dad barely has time to discuss this with the kind of job he has."

"Wow," said Astrid. "I knew being a police detective was demanding, but I never considered that the chief would have so much on his plate that he barely has much family time. That's sad to think about."

"Sad to live with it, too," said Hiccup. He motioned to the couch. "Come here; sit down."

Astrid carried Toothless to the couch and sat down. Hiccup sat in a nearby chair. As they sat down, Heather came downstairs and said, "Hey, guys!"

"Hi, Heather!" said Astrid.

"Can I get you anything? We have orange juice."

"That sounds good," said Astrid. "Thanks!"

"Can I also have a glass?" asked Hiccup.

"Sure!" said Heather.

"Thanks a lot," said Hiccup. While Heather got the orange juice, Hiccup briefly grinned at Toothless, who was contently falling asleep in Astrid's lap. Looking up at Astrid, he dropped the grin and asked, "What did you want to talk about?"

Astrid didn't speak to this at first, but after a few seconds, she said, "First of all, I wanted to apologize for judging you yesterday, when you said you understand that I hate not having control over things. I shouldn't have assumed anything."

"Oh, this?" Hiccup asked, lifting his left pants leg. Where Astrid would have expected to see flesh, she saw a metal peg attached to a prosthetic foot covered by a sock.

"Yeah," she said, cringing at the sight of it. "That. If you don't mind me asking, what happened to it?"

Hiccup glanced up at Heather and muttered a small "Thank you" when she placed a glass of orange juice on the coffee table in front of him. Astrid did the same when she received her glass. Gulping, Hiccup began to tell his story.

"Three years ago, Heather and I were on a bike ride home from the park during the summer," he said. "I was ahead of her. I was looking both ways and everything. A black sports car with no license plate appeared out of basically nowhere. It was speeding on a neighborhood street. I didn't get a good look at the driver's face, but I don't remember seeing any sense of panic. I couldn't move out of the way fast enough. The car just … hit me. Slammed into me. I was knocked out. While I was down, the driver backed up, drove around me and sped away. Heather called 911 and I was driven to the hospital. My dad turned the press away as much as he could. Three weeks later, I woke up with an oxygen tube on my face, and my leg was gone. It had been mangled to the point where it had to be amputated."

"Was it painful?" asked Astrid.

"Not at first," said Hiccup. "The pain medicine I was on kept it from hurting, but when I got fitted with a prosthetic and released from the hospital, it started to hurt like crazy sometimes. I was kept on pain pills and it was Heather's job to keep me in check."

"Did they ever catch the driver?"

"No," said Hiccup. "The trail went cold when they found the car. Its owner was at work the entire day. It was an older car, so it was easy to mess with the wiring. I guess that's how whoever did this got the car to run."

"A stolen car," Astrid pondered. "Sounds like what DD does."

"Yeah," said Heather, sitting at the opposite end of the couch from Astrid. "He used a stolen car, didn't he?"

"Yeah," said Astrid. "My dad's partner Janet is a friend of mine. She told me everything she thinks happened. The car theft happened late at night, and the owner heard the car starting, so he called the police to report it. My dad was the first in the patrol to find the car, which sped off into the woods on Berk Highway. He kept following the car through the rain until it swerved off the road. It hit a tree and couldn't drive any further. My dad got out of his car and drew his gun, but he didn't have a bulletproof vest on. He was shot in the heart. The bullet would have killed him instantly. There was no trail to follow. The killer just vanished."

"That's awful," said Hiccup. "Who would do such a thing?"

"Someone who's messed up in the head," said Astrid. "The worst part is how much of a toll it's taken on my mother. She's become obsessed with the case, so much that she can't function well as a mom anymore. She wants justice more than anything else. She's blaming the investigation's lack of progress on your dad, and he doesn't deserve that."

"He's been losing sleep over this case," said Hiccup. "He had to come home early last night to get more sleep so he could have a fresh start today. He's starting to have doubts the investigation will ever be finished. The killer doesn't leave a shred of evidence behind. The only evidence the police have is dash cam footage of a man in black with a ski mask."

"That's all they have," said Astrid. "No identifying information, no fingerprints on the steering wheel, and no footprints because of the rain. And it's ruining my mom. It's all about her now. She doesn't listen to me when I tell her to let the police do their job." She looked Hiccup in the face and said, "I'm afraid I was starting to imitate her behavior when I confronted you about the case yesterday, Hiccup. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," said Hiccup.

"No, it's not," said Astrid. "It's not okay for anyone to act the way I did. And it's certainly not okay for my mom to continue acting like this. I don't know what to do. She won't listen to me, and she sure as heck won't listen to you. She hasn't met you, but she didn't want me to come here."

"Does she work?" asked Hiccup.

"She's a saleswoman," said Astrid. "But she's been on sick leave this whole week and she's going back on Monday. If she keeps her job, she'll go into management."

"If she keeps her job?" Hiccup repeated, concerned.

"I'm afraid of her losing it because of the turn in her attitude," said Astrid.

"That's very serious," said Heather. "We should do something."

"What would we do?" asked Hiccup. "I have no idea how to get through to somebody like that, let alone what I would say."

"Guys, I didn't come here seeking help," said Astrid. "I just wanted to get away from my mom for a day. She's not the same person anymore."

"So, what do you want to do?" asked Hiccup.

"Anything," said Astrid. "Literally anything. Music, board games, video games. Anything to get my mind off it."

Hiccup thought for a moment. He had an Xbox, but not a lot of games. There was a piano in the corner of the room, but he didn't play it much. He knew how to play chess, but he didn't want to bore Astrid. He thought for a moment and eventually asked, "Do you want to see my dragon project?"

Heather glared at Hiccup and said, "Seriously?"

"What?" said Hiccup. "It's a distraction."

"Sure," said Astrid.

Hiccup stood up and retrieved his MacBook from his backpack. After logging in, he opened up Blender and loaded a 3D file. Turning the computer around, he showed Astrid the dragon. She stared at it, taking in the sight. The dragon had green eyes, a flat head, and it had very basic wings. Its tail was long compared to its short neck, and its left tail fin was red. The rest of the dragon was black. It wasn't highly detailed, but Astrid could see that Hiccup had paid close attention to the main body.

"It looks kind of like a cat," she observed.

"Yeah, that's because it was inspired by Toothless," said Hiccup. "It's especially noticeable in the face."

"I see that," said Astrid. "The green eyes, and … are those his ears?"

"Yeah," said Hiccup. "I modeled them to look sort of like a cat's ears."

"Specifically Toothless's ears, right?" asked Astrid. She was petting Toothless's head.

"Yeah," said Hiccup.

"What about the red fin on his tail?" asked Astrid.

"You know how airplanes work, right?"

"Not really."

"I forget what they're called, but there are these small wings at the back of most airplanes that help with aerodynamics. That's what the fins are supposed to represent. The fin on the left is kind of a parallel to my leg."

"So this is a representation of you?"

"Yeah," said Hiccup.

"My favorite part of it is the eyes," said Heather. "Especially with that particular shade of green."

"And you're going to print this on the 3D printer in the engineering classroom?" asked Astrid.

"Yep," said Hiccup. "It's not exactly sculpting, but it's art. And some engineering, because I think I may have to print several parts separately."

"How did you know the engineering teacher's phone number?" asked Astrid.

"He's a family friend," said Heather. "He's like our godfather."

"Godfather, huh? I guess that explains why you knew his number off the top of your head, Hiccup," said Astrid.

"Oh, yeah," said Hiccup. "I didn't know if he had any black 3D printer ink for this. He's going to get some this weekend. The project isn't finished yet. It's still got some way to go." He closed out the window and Astrid noticed his desktop background.

"Why is Stanley in the picture with you?" she asked.

"Oh," said Hiccup. "That's the other thing I wanted to tell you about." He hesitated for a moment, but then said, "Stanley's our cousin."

"What?" Astrid was confused. "Why does he always give you a hard time?"

"No idea," said Hiccup. "Other kids at school do it, too. Probably just because he does it."

"That's awful," said Astrid. Now knowing the extent of Hiccup's bullying problem, she started to feel really bad for him.

"I know it is," said Hiccup. "But I've never done anything about it because I don't know what to do."

"If I was in your position, I'd tell an adult," said Astrid. "Someone I trust."

"Or talk to a friend," said Heather.

"I've talked to Jack and Fishlegs," said Hiccup. "Jack told me I shouldn't give him the satisfaction. Fishlegs said to just ignore him. I can't ignore him because he'll try to get me in trouble if I do."

"Hmm… This _is_ quite a dilemma, isn't it?" said Astrid.

"Maybe instead of shutting everyone out all the time, you should be more social," said Heather.

"Maybe so," said Hiccup, his voice dull.

"You don't sound like you're taking that advice seriously," said Astrid.

"That's because I really don't know how to make good friends," said Hiccup.

"Then maybe it's time I intervened," said Heather. She stood up from where she was sitting and walked upstairs.

"What are you doing?" asked Hiccup. When Heather didn't respond, he shook his head.

"Hiccup, I really don't want you to feel that you're being treated unfairly," said Astrid. "Having good friends is the best way to counteract that."

"I know, but it's hard for me to make new friends," said Hiccup.

"You made friends with me quickly," said Astrid.

"Only because Heather introduced us," said Hiccup.

"Well, that's how a lot of friends meet," said Astrid.

Hiccup supposed it was true, so he said, "Perhaps. But I'll admit this, Astrid. I had a crush on you for a long time in elementary school."

"Did you, really?" asked Astrid.

"Yeah," said Hiccup, blushing and turning his gaze downward.

"Hey, it's nothing to be ashamed of," said Astrid. "Well, unless you had a girlfriend, which – I don't want to sound mean, but – I'm guessing you've never had one."

"No," said Hiccup. "And I don't think this is improving the situation very much."

"Okay," said Astrid. "What do you like to do on your spare time?"

"I play games like Minecraft, listen to music, and even _play_ music on my piano," said Hiccup. "I've started to learn the guitar."

"How good are you?" asked Astrid.

"Not very," said Hiccup. "I only just recently got into it. My dad used to play a lot, and he's letting me use his guitar."

Heather reappeared from upstairs and said, "Hey, you guys want to go get pizza?"

"Why?" asked Hiccup.

"I got a text from Jack, and he wants to go get pizza with us at this new place called _The Pan_ ," said Heather. "Apparently, it's one of those 'build your own pizza' restaurants."

"Oh, that should be fun!" said Astrid. She turned towards Hiccup and said, "Do you want to go?"

"Sure," said Hiccup. He stood up and said, "Just gotta feed Toothless."

As Hiccup went to the kitchen to feed Toothless, Astrid said to Heather, "Your brother's very shy, isn't he? He says he's not good at making friends, but look at how quickly we've connected."

"He just doesn't have a lot of self-confidence," said Heather. She saw Hiccup returning and said, "Let's go get some pizza!"

"Yes, let's!" said Hiccup. As they exited the apartment, Hiccup made sure the alarm system was armed and the doors were shut and locked before texting his mom to let her know where he would be. He then walked with his sister and new friend to the pizza parlor.

* * *

When they arrived, Jack was waiting for them. "Hey, guys!" said Jack. "Astrid! I didn't expect you to come along."

"I was hanging out with Hiccup and Heather, so it worked out great," said Astrid. "By the way, thanks for instigating this whole idea of introducing us."

"You're welcome," said Jack. "You guys seem like you're having fun. And speaking of fun, why don't we all design our own pizzas?"

"Sounds good!" said Heather.

As they walked into the pizza parlor, Hiccup noticed something. His cousin Stanley and his friends Thomas (aka Tom) and Rachel were also in line for pizza. Rachel and Tom seemed to be arguing over who would pay the bill. But of course they were. They were twins. Even Hiccup and Heather argued over the smallest things sometimes.

Astrid noticed Hiccup's unease and said, "You doing okay?"

"I'm alright," said Hiccup. "Just noticing my cousin."

Astrid followed his gaze. When she saw Stanley, she said, "Just pretend he's not there."

"Okay," said Hiccup.

As they got through the line, Hiccup ended up creating a pepperoni pizza with bacon. Heather started with just cheese and added mushrooms pineapple pieces to her pizza, which Hiccup could only stare at in disbelief. Astrid stuck with pepperoni, but added tomatoes to hers. Jack decided to try the veggie pizza, but added bacon for flavor. "It'll be like eating salad on a pizza," he said.

The pizza size was a reasonable 8 inches for lunches. When they reached the cash register, Astrid tapped Hiccup's shoulder and said, "I just realized I left my money at home."

"I'll pay for yours," said Hiccup.

"I'll pay you back next week," said Astrid.

"No," said Hiccup. "You don't have to do that."

"I insist," said Astrid.

"I triple insist," said Hiccup. "Don't worry about it."

Astrid was about to protest, but she had a feeling he wouldn't give up. "Thanks," she said.

"You're welcome," said Hiccup.

As they got seated, Jack said, "I did some research on DD since yesterday, Astrid. Apparently, he's never been caught or successfully identified, so it's no surprise to me that the Berk police can't find him either. The fact remains that I'm very sorry about what happened."

"I'm doing alright, Jack," said Astrid. "It's my mom who's been taking it especially hard. That's why I wanted to leave the house."

As Hiccup finished his his first bite, he said, "Did she know about DD before all this happened?"

"I don't know," said Astrid. "I may have accused her of knowing last night. That was a mistake."

"This is awful," said Heather.

"I know," said Astrid. "It's tearing my family apart."

Hiccup was about to say something, but he noticed Stanley looking at him. His cousin's expression was sour, but to Hiccup's surprise, he looked away. On any other day, he would have gone over to the table and made fun of Hiccup. There was something different. Hiccup turned back towards his own group and noticed Astrid eyeing him. "Just ignore him," she said.

"It's hard to do that sometimes," said Hiccup. He took one more glance at Stanley and saw that he and his friends were leaving. "I do wonder why he didn't come over here and try to make fun of me."

"Maybe because you're not alone," said Jack. "You've talked about how he does it, and I've noticed that every time it happens, you're isolated."

Maybe that was it. The more Hiccup thought about it, the more he realized his cousin usually made fun of him when he was alone. Not only that, but Astrid had punched him when he did it in front of her.

"How's your pizza, Heather?" asked Jack.

"It's … interesting," said Heather.

"I was about to say, Heather," said Hiccup. "Why would you ever put pineapple on a pizza?"

"It's a Hawaiian thing," said Heather. "I don't understand it, either. It tastes interesting, though. You should try it sometime. Although, don't put mushrooms on it. I don't think the tastes go well together."

"I was questioning that choice," said Hiccup. "The pepperoni and bacon go well together, though. What about you, Astrid?"

"I like the flavor of the tomatoes," said Astrid. "I mean, I normally get pepperoni pizza, but I thought I'd try tomatoes on it, and I actually think it's a good combination."

"I don't normally get veggie pizza, but I wanted to try something different today," said Jack.

"This is fun," said Hiccup. "We should come again sometime and give it another shot."

"Yeah," said Astrid.

The rest of their time at the restaurant was spent discussing the school subjects and common interests. One interesting thing Hiccup found out was that Astrid played the piano, like he did! Without setting up a specific day, they decided it was a good idea to hang out and play the piano sometime. Because of the size of the pizzas, none of them needed to bring leftovers home. Jack said a quick goodbye to everyone and went home from there on his own.

"Well, I'd better go home," said Astrid. "I have to take care of Stormfly."

"Stormfly?" Hiccup repeated.

"Oh, I didn't tell you," said Astrid. "I have a pet bird named Stormfly."

"I see," said Hiccup. "I'll walk with you if you want. Where do you live?"

"712 Dragonfly Street," said Astrid.

"That's on the way to our place," said Hiccup. "Let's go." He turned towards the direction of Dragonfly Street, which was where Jack had been heading when he left. Mysteriously, Jack was nowhere to be seen. Hiccup dismissed this.

As they walked home, Hiccup talked with Astrid about music. She liked calm music, and so did he, but he also enjoyed fast-paced piano music. The conversation turned to video games because Hiccup mentioned being inspired by game soundtracks to learn how to play music on the piano and guitar. He found out that she liked to play Minecraft, which Hiccup and Heather played as well. Heather started to drift away from the conversation and study the way her brother and Astrid interacted.

When they reached Astrid's home, she said, "Thanks, guys. See you Monday."

"No, not Monday," said Hiccup. "That's Labor Day."

"Oh, that's right!" said Astrid. "Tuesday, then?"

"Yeah," said Hiccup. "See you later!"

"Bye!" said Astrid. She entered her house and found her mother in the family room, knitting. "Hi, Mom!"

"Hi, Astrid," said Karen. "How was it?"

"I had fun," said Astrid. "Harry's fun to hang out with."

Karen looked up and said, "You like him?"

"What? Mom, we just met!"

"No, I mean as a friend," said Karen.

"Well, yeah," said Astrid. "Why do you ask?"

Karen studied her daughter's expression and said, "There's something different about you. "You seem happier than you've been."

Astrid paused. "Well, that's because I've met a good friend," she said. "You've got his family all wrong. They're not what you think they are. You don't have to hate them."

"I don't hate them, sweetie," said Karen. She put her glasses down and said, "It's just that I've been very frustrated lately. Ever since your dad died, I've been taking out my frustrations on everyone, especially the Haddock family. I haven't been fair to them. I'll apologize to Chief Haddock tomorrow."

Astrid couldn't understand what her mother was saying for a moment, but she began to realize that her mother was turning her behavior around, all from realizing that her daughter's behavior was different, which was because of Hiccup.

Meanwhile, Heather was smiling at nothing in particular on the way home. Hiccup noticed and asked, "What is it?"

"You like her," said Heather.

"What!?" Hiccup exclaimed. "I won't lie; I do like her, but just as a friend!"

Heather chuckled. "I see."

Hiccup gave her an incredulous look, but she continued to grin. "Shut up," he said.

"I didn't say anything," said Heather.

"You were shipping me with Astrid," said Hiccup. "Never in a million years."

"I know you like her that way," said Heather. Hiccup was about to protest, but he decided to leave it at that. Even though he denied it outwardly, he knew it was true. But he was afraid Astrid didn't like _him_ the same way he liked her.

He would find out soon enough.

* * *

 **Okay, I wasn't really feeling it with this chapter. At least not in the pizza parlor scene. That's part of why this is delayed. Another part of it is I was out of town again. I'll try to get the next chapter of** ** _Dragons of Berk_** **soon. I think the reason I wasn't feeling it was because I wasn't sure what to do with this chapter. I didn't get a lot of time set aside to write it, either, so I hope you enjoyed it. I'm sorry it was long, but I couldn't figure out a good way to split it into two chapters. Please leave reviews. I think it would encourage me to write with more enthusiasm. So thank you guys so much for reading, and I'll see you next time! Bye!**


	4. Chapter 4: Overcoming Fears

**Hi, guys! It's DillPickle! Sorry this is late again. My schedule has been jacked up in the last week. I really enjoyed writing this chapter, though. This is the most excited I've been to get a chapter up in a while! With that, progress!**

* * *

 _Chapter 4  
Overcoming Fears_

That evening, Astrid received a text from Hiccup. _Hi, Astrid! You left your bike at my house accidentally. What should we do?_ At first, she was confused, but then she remembered she'd ridden her bike to Hiccup's place. She responded to his text saying, _I'll come over next week and get it._ In response, Hiccup sent her a smiley emoji face.

In the next few weeks, everything seemed to be going well. Hiccup and Astrid quickly became best friends, and often got teased about being a couple, to which Hiccup always responded, "We are _not!_ " Astrid continued to provide feedback to Hiccup on his dragon project, and Hiccup sometimes went to her house to practice playing the piano with her and make a good impression on her mom. He still wasn't completely convinced Karen Hofferson had changed her mind about him and his family, so he was especially careful to mind his manners. His dad even convinced him to invite Astrid to dinner twice over the next month. Though these two friends became quite close, Hiccup never pursued a romantic relationship with Astrid because he wasn't sure she would reciprocate his emotions. He hadn't even known her for very long, and they were just friends, right?

That was about to change.

* * *

 _10:32 AM  
_ _Friday, October 28, 2016  
_ _Gobber's Engineering Classroom_

When Hiccup arrived at Engineering, there was a special package waiting for him at his seat. As he opened it, he marveled at his accomplishment. His dragon was finally completed, though the 3D print was a bit smaller than he had expected it to look. He still had to draw some details, but he was proud of what he'd done. Before taking her seat at the other side of the room, Astrid visited Hiccup to look at it.

"It's so much cooler than looking at it on a computer!" said Astrid.

"I agree," said Hiccup. "It was nice of Gobber to let this print overnight. I do think I could have done a bit better with the wings, though."

"Well, I think it looks great, and I'm proud of you," said Astrid, nudging his arm.

"Thank you," said Hiccup, smiling at her. He felt his face warm up as he blushed. Astrid pretended not to notice as she walked to her seat because she didn't want to embarrass him.

A few minutes later, the class began working on a miniature project. Each student was to build a house out of coffee sticks without using scale drawings. Gobber said the objective was to teach the students why he always made them plan ahead for engineering projects.

Stanley sat next to Hiccup, who wished to be sitting with Astrid instead. About ten minutes before the end of the class, Stanley picked up the dragon and looked closely at it. "What the heck is this thing?" he asked in a rude tone of voice.

"It's a dragon," said Hiccup. "I made it. Will you please put it down?"

"Not until I've had a good look at it, thank you very much!" said Stanley. He stared at it for a few seconds, inspecting every part of it. "Okay, at first glance, it looks pretty cool."

"Thanks," said Hiccup. "Any constructive feedback?"

"Yes," said Stanley. "Everybody knows dragons breathe fire. Where is the fire in this thing? Why are the feet so small? They're almost disproportionately small! Try and get some more detail on this, too! It looks like a low poly video game character. And what's all this gunk underneath its wings?" He started to pick at the remaining 3D ink under the wings.

"Don't touch that, Stanley!" Hiccup snapped. "I was going to take care of it. Can I please have it back now?"

Instead of giving it back to Hiccup, Stanley continued to scratch off the excess ink. Under the unmeasured pressure, one of the wings crumbled in his hand. "Oops!" Stanley jeered.

"You idiot!" Hiccup snatched what was left of the dragon from Stanley's hands and assessed the damage. The wing wasn't the only broken part. The body had some cracks from Stanley's careless grip. "You just ruined it!"

"Hey, it's not my fault you screwed up the design," said Stanley.

That did it. Hiccup stood up and shouted, "Stop blaming me!" He scooped up the remaining broken pieces from the floor and stormed out of the classroom.

By this point, Stanley had the attention of the entire class. The engineering teacher, Gobber, walked up behind him and yelled, "WHAT was that?"

Jack, who had been sitting across from Hiccup, said, "This _bully_ was bashing Hiccup's dragon design. He grabbed it without permission and ended up breaking it."

Astrid broke through the Thorston twins, who had been blocking her from Hiccup the entire time. She walked straight up to Stanley and slapped him in the face. "I don't care who you are or what the relation is between you and Hiccup," she told him. "You have no right to harass him like that." She turned towards the Thorstons. "And you guys are especially to blame for this escalating the way it did. You blocked me and _enabled_ him to push Hiccup over the edge!"

"What?" said Tom. "I don't remember that."

"Alright, that's enough!" Gobber shouted. "You obviously don't appreciate the amount of work Hiccup put into that, you chuckleheads! He spent months on this!"

"He did?" Stanley asked, nervously.

"And that's not all," said Gobber. "You're not off the hook. I'm putting extra community service hours on you for this! And that goes for you, too, Tom and Rachel!"

"What? We didn't do anything!" said Rachel.

"Save it for the dean if you're going to cause any more trouble," said Gobber. He made his way towards the door, intent on speaking with Hiccup. Before he got there, though, Astrid walked into his field of view and raised her hand.

"Yes, lass?" said Gobber.

"Can I go talk to Hiccup, please?" asked Astrid.

Gobber was surprised to hear this, but he happily obliged. "Of course," he replied. "You might be able to get through to him better than I can."

"Thanks," said Astrid, exiting the classroom.

As Gobber returned to Stanley, he noticed the boy was still holding part of the dragon's wing. Suddenly, a spiteful but wonderful idea popped into his mind.

"This will be your punishment!" Gobber announced.

* * *

It didn't take Astrid long to find Hiccup. He was sitting outside near the lunch area, slumped against the building. He was sheltered from the sun in the shadow of the school. She quietly approached him and said, "Hey, Hiccup."

Hiccup was startled at first, but when he saw it was just her, he looked up at her and said, "Hi, Astrid." His eyes were red, as if he had been crying. He sniffled. Yes, he had definitely been crying.

"Mind if I sit here with you?" she asked.

"No, go ahead," said Hiccup.

Astrid crouched down next to him and said, "Hiccup, I'm sorry about what happened back there. I really do think you did a great job on the dragon. Stanley was just being a moron."

"I know," said Hiccup. "He's always like that."

"Really? I haven't seen it lately," said Astrid.

"He always does it behind people's backs."

"What did you say?"

"I mean—." Hiccup sputtered "um" and other speech fillers as he tried to cover up what he'd said.

"Wait just a minute," said Astrid, cutting him off completely. "Are you saying that when you're alone, he's an even _bigger_ bully?"

Hiccup sighed in defeat. "Yeah," he said. "More than he was before. I've been downplaying it the whole time."

"You really shouldn't do that," said Astrid. "You need to tell someone. Without someone to reprimand him, he'll just continue to do this. You know it's true."

Tears started to fill Hiccup's eyes. "I know," he said. "But I didn't want to make a big deal out of it. And if I tell somebody, he'll just call me a coward."

"You're not a coward, Hiccup," said Astrid. "Who cares what he says? You're one of the bravest people I know."

"But I'm afraid to do this to him," said Hiccup.

"It's better if you report him than if I slap him in the face again," said Astrid. "And if you need me, I'll help you. Okay?"

Hiccup wiped the tears out of his eyes and said, "You will?"

Astrid scooted closer to Hiccup and, to his surprise, hugged him. He hesitantly hugged her back, even though his mind told him in so many different ways not to. "Remember, I'm always here for you, Hiccup," said Astrid. She tilted her head up and quickly planted a gentle kiss on his temple.

Hiccup's heart stopped for a moment. Had she actually just done that? For a moment, he lost the ability to speak and just smiled at her. When she smiled back, he said, "Thanks, Astrid. I really needed that."

She continued to smile at him and said, "Are you ready to go back to class?"

"Yeah," said Hiccup.

As they made their way down the hall, Hiccup observed Astrid closely. She was smiling, but there was something else. A very light shade of pink was barely visible on her cheeks, but Hiccup only noticed when he looked closely enough. _Does she actually like me more than I think she does?_ he thought to himself.

Astrid caught him staring and said, "What?"

"Nothing." Hiccup could feel his face heating up.

"No, really. What?" she insisted.

Hiccup chuckled. "You. You're blushing."

"Am not!" said Astrid. She couldn't help a small giggle. "You are."

"Maybe so," said Hiccup.

"Let's never speak of this in class, okay?" said Astrid.

"You bet," said Hiccup. "I wouldn't want you to become a social outcast like me."

"Hey, don't talk yourself down like that," said Astrid. "Pretty much everyone knows we're friends."

"Some of them think we're even more than that," said Hiccup.

"Are we?" asked Astrid.

Hiccup paused for a moment. To tell the truth, he did see Astrid as more than just his friend. On the other hand, he'd only really known her for a couple of months. Then again, she had _kissed_ him earlier...

"I honestly don't know, Astrid," said Hiccup. "You're my best friend, but you kissed me just a minute ago."

Now Astrid blushed even brighter. "Um... maybe we shouldn't discuss this right now. We've only known each other for so long."

"My thoughts exactly," said Hiccup.

"Thanks," said Astrid. "I don't want my face tomato red when we get back to class."

"I should hope not," said Hiccup.

When they reached the classroom, Astrid had recovered enough to at least be presentable. As they entered, everyone was packing up to go to lunch.

"Remember, all concept drawings are due next Friday!" said Gobber. "I have a limited criteria to deal with, so don't make them too crazy!"

When the classroom was clear, Hiccup and Astrid walked up to Gobber. "Concept drawings?" asked Hiccup. "What did we miss?"

"Well, I was fed up with those degenerates, so I'm making everyone do something that will make them appreciate your effort in your dragon project," said Gobber. "Everyone is to design a 3D dragon to compete in a contest to see who builds the best!"

"What?" asked Astrid. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Well, I thought it was," said Gobber. "Maybe I was being a bit spiteful, but it _is_ an engineering thing. There could be a sculpting element, too. There's a program online called TinkerCad. I don't know how much detail you can put into the things you design, but it's worth a shot, right?"

"Definitely," said Hiccup.

"Are you sure you want to start over, Hiccup?" asked Astrid. "It won't be like Blender."

"That's not all, Astrid!" said Hiccup. "You get to design a dragon, too!"

"I'm not even that good at computers," said Astrid.

"That's where I come in," said Hiccup. "I'll help you out. We can be a team."

"Wait, but are we competing against each other?" asked Astrid.

"I actually haven't figured out what the competition will be structured like yet," said Gobber.

"That's all well and good," said Hiccup. "What do you say, Astrid? Team?" He put his left hand up.

"Any day!" said Astrid. She high-fived Hiccup. "When do we start?"

"We'll probably start after we get those concept drawings in," said Hiccup. He cleared off his desk and picked up his backpack. Astrid followed suit.

As they walked out of the classroom, Hiccup said, "Hey, Astrid, I'm going to go to the dean and report Stanley right now."

"Now?" asked Astrid. "Are you sure, Hiccup?"

"Yeah," he said. "I don't want to put up with him anymore. You'll wait for me, right?"

"Sure," said Astrid. "I'll be right outside if you need me." She sat down on the bench just outside the dean's office and said, "Better get a move-on."

"Here goes nothing," said Hiccup. He took a deep breath and entered the office.

* * *

While waiting for Hiccup, Astrid ate her lunch on the bench. Soon, Jack walked by. "Hey, Astrid!" he said. "What's up?"

"Nothing," said Astrid. "Just waiting for Hiccup to come out."

"What?" Jack looked confused. "Did he do something wrong?"

"No," said Astrid. "He's reporting Stanley for the confrontation, and probably everything else that moron's done."

"Finally!" said Jack. "He's probably the meanest guy in school. Not even Tom and Rachel compare to him by a long shot."

"He's a flirt, too, in case you haven't noticed," said Astrid.

"That must be quite bothersome and annoying, huh?" asked Jack. "Especially since you and Hiccup are so close."

She looked up at him and said, "What do you mean by that?"

"Oh, come on, Astrid," said Jack. "Every time you so much as make eye contact with Hiccup, you act differently."

"Differently how?" asked Astrid.

"Don't play dumb with me," said Jack. "You talk differently around him, too. Your tone is softer. Sometimes I even catch you blushing when he does something for you." She glared at him. "Okay, I'll just tell you straight up. I know you like him as more than just your friend."

"Is it really that obvious?" asked Astrid.

"Have you really not heard that people talk about you two?"

"I don't want them to talk about us, Jack!" said Astrid.

"Neither would I," said Jack. "If I had a girlfriend, I wouldn't want everyone gossiping about us."

"I'm not his girlfriend!" said Astrid. "Just because I'm his best friend and I'm a girl, it doesn't mean I'm his girlfriend. There's a big difference. Listen. Every time someone makes fun of us for being a couple, which we aren't, Hiccup denies it like crazy. I'm not even sure he _wants_ to have that kind of relationship with me."

A shocked look crossed Jack's face. After a moment, he said, "Okay, enough about you two. How about this? I'm having a Halloween party at my house, and it's probably a bad time to mention I invited Stanley, too."

"Why?" asked Astrid. "You clearly don't like the guy."

"Doesn't mean I can't try being nice to him," said Jack. "Point is, I wanted you and the Haddock twins to come."

"What kind of Halloween party is this?" asked Astrid.

"The usual," said Jack. "Games, pumpkin carving, Trick-or-Treating, that kind of thing. Here, I'll give you my number and you can RSVP." He handed her a slip of notepad paper with his cell number on it. "Hang onto this and give me a call once you decide. It'll start directly after school on Halloween."

"What about your address?" asked Astrid.

"I'll text it to you," said Jack. "Don't forget to tell Hiccup about this."

"Okay," said Astrid.

When Jack was gone, Hiccup came out of the office. He breathed out a sigh of what Astrid could only identify as relief. "So, how did it go?" she asked.

"Well, it felt good to get it off my chest," said Hiccup. "No telling what happens now, though. I have to wait until 'further notice.'"

"Well, whatever you said, I'm sure you did fine," said Astrid. She patted the space on the bench next to her and Hiccup sat down. She gave him some time to get his lunchbox out of his backpack and said, "Hiccup, Jack is having a Halloween party at his place. I don't know who all is invited, but he wants you, me and Heather to come."

"You know I'm not one for social gatherings, Astrid," said Hiccup.

"But it's Jack!" said Astrid. "One of your other best pals!"

"Jack and I don't hang out much outside of school," said Hiccup.

"That's true, but it doesn't change the fact that he's your friend, right?" asked Astrid.

"Well, there is one thing you should know," said Hiccup. "Even though we're friends and all, I don't know that much about him. Not nearly as much as I know about Fishlegs. I suppose this would be a chance to get to know him better, though."

"That's right!" said Astrid. "That's what I was going for!"

"Well, I suppose I could go," said Hiccup.

"Great!" said Astrid.

* * *

 _3:35 PM  
En Route to Haddock Residence_

"Then Astrid came by and talked to me," said Hiccup.

"What did she say?" asked Heather, trying her best to pay attention as she pedaled her bike.

"She tried to comfort me, and then I told her Stanley does this all the time," said Hiccup. "She talked about always being there for me if I need her."

"I say that all the time," said Heather. "You never listen. What made it different this time?"

"Maybe it's because she's not my sister. Anyway, she did something I didn't expect. First, she hugged me. Not too weird, right? Then, she kissed me on my temple."

Heather almost lost her balance when she heard this. "What?"

"You heard it," said Hiccup. "On the way back to class, we kind of talked about ... us. And we decided we're not going to talk about that again because we haven't known each other long."

"That makes sense on the surface, but it's counterproductive," said Heather. "If I was in your shoes, I'd take her on a date."

"Shoe," said Hiccup. "And no. Don't you think that would be a little too drastic?"

"She likes you!" said Heather, taking the risk of looking back at him while pedaling. "Can't you tell at this point? She kissed you, for crying out loud! Screw drastic! You should do something with her sometime after this party! Take her out on a date or something."

"Alright, fine," said Hiccup. "But we're fourteen! Don't you think it's a bit soon?"

"We'll be fifteen this coming February," said Heather. "I think it's the prime time!"

"We'll see for sure on Monday," said Hiccup.

"Totes," said Heather.

* * *

 _Later that evening..._

"She did what, now?" asked Scott.

"It's like I said," said Hiccup, sitting in his living room chair. "She came out to comfort me, and kissed me on the temple. I honestly don't know what to do."

"Well, she obviously likes you more than you've let on," said Scott. He was sitting on the couch.

"I didn't know until today," said Hiccup.

"Well, the good thing is you told the dean about Stanley," said Scott. "I just wish you would have come to me sooner."

"I know, I'm sorry," said Hiccup. "We can talk about him later. Right now, I need advice about what to do about Astrid."

"Well, how do you feel about her?" asked Scott, taking a sip of wine.

Hiccup sighed. "I don't know, Dad."

"Sure, you do," said Scott. "I'll ask you again. How do you feel about Astrid?"

"Well, I like her a lot," said Hiccup, "but the whole reason we became friends in the first place was because Heather introduced us. I mean, I _did_ have a crush on her back in elementary school, but still."

"The fact that Heather introduced you to her has nothing to do with how you feel," said Scott.

"Okay, fine," said Hiccup. "I'll tell you. I do have feelings for Astrid, if that's what you were going for. I like her enough that I want to kiss her sometimes."

"Well, it looks like she beat you to it!" Scott laughed. "If you like her that much, then why does it bother you that she kissed you?"

"I honestly don't know anymore," said Hiccup. "I think I was just nervous because this feeling is so foreign to me."

"I understand," said Scott. "I was the same way when your mom and I were in college. Tell you what. You're both going to Jack's Halloween party, right?"

"Yeah," said Hiccup.

"Why don't you ask her how she feels there?" asked Scott.

Hiccup blushed. "I don't want my relationship with Astrid to move too fast," he said.

"If you don't do something soon, she might start to think you're not interested," said Scott.

"Oh, alright," said Hiccup. "But only because you said so."

* * *

 **HOLY COW! I just looked at the view count and it's over 1k! Thank you guys so much for reading this, whether you're actually following via email updates or not. Of course, I'm continuing the story. I just wanted to say thank you. This is higher than my YouTube view count on my first video! Let me know how you guys liked this chapter because it's near and dear to my heart. I loved writing this one. I may say to leave reviews almost every time I upload, but any and all feedback is appreciated, or you can just tell me your thoughts on the story so far! Also, don't forget to read _Dragons of Berk: How to Train Your Dragon_ , which is pretty much where my Jack OC came from. As always, I'll see you soon!**


	5. Chapter 5: Halloween Party

**Bear with me on this one, guys! It's all part of the plot! (Get it? All part of the plan? Whatever.) No, but seriously. This is a huge plot point, but I had to trim it down in the interest of chapter length. Why can I still hear a train whistle with my headphones on? Oh, wait. Never mind. My computer's muted. =D**

 **Alright, enough with the hijinks. I'm done.**

* * *

 _Chapter 5  
_ _Halloween Party_

 _8:28 AM  
Monday, October 31, 2016  
_ _Freshman Hallway - Berk High School_

Monday was not Hiccup's favorite day of the week. As long as he could remember, he had always hated Mondays. This wasn't because he hated school; it was because he didn't like going back to school to see his cousin. Stanley was a bully, and he always had been. Hiccup wasn't sure Stanley had ever been taught proper manners. Among other things, the kid picked his nose half the time, for crying out loud! It drove Astrid crazy whenever she saw him doing it.

Astrid.

Hiccup knew Astrid would be there at school with him, and it brought him comfort. She always supported him and scared all the bullies away, especially after slapping Stanley, the top bully in the school, during class. And then there was that kiss she had given Hiccup shortly afterwards. It had been nothing more than a light peck on the temple to comfort him, but Hiccup was still confused. Had she meant something more by that very short contact?

When Hiccup arrived at school on that Monday, the day of Halloween, he noticed something strange. Stanley wasn't anywhere to be seen. He looked around the hallway and saw the Thorston twins, but still no sign of Stanley. Gulping, he walked up to the twins and said, "What's up?"

"Nothing," said Tom. "Sup with you?"

"Nothing," said Hiccup. "Just feels a bit weird not to have Stanley here. I wonder where he is."

"Isn't it obvious?" said Rachel. "He got suspended."

"What?" Hiccup realized he shouldn't have been shocked by this, but he was. "You're pulling my leg."

"We're not doing anything of the sort, Hiccup," said Tom. "We heard Stan got suspended the day he broke your dragon."

"Are you serious?" said Hiccup. "That's ... not what I was expecting."

"Well, it doesn't surprise us," said Rachel. "He talks to us pretty much every day. We know just about everything he's done to you."

"Really?" asked Hiccup. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Well," said Tom, "for one thing, Stan said they were just pranks. For another, we didn't want to tattle on him."

"That's understandable, I guess," said Hiccup. He looked at his watch. "It's almost time for class." He realized the twins were wearing strange outfits. "Um, what are you wearing?"

"We're zombies!" said Tom. "We just can't have fake blood right now."

"Oh, that's right!" said Hiccup. He face palmed. He had completely forgotten to wear his Halloween costume. "I completely forgot to wear my Halloween costume today. Heather and I woke up later than usual and forgot it was Halloween."

"Are you going to Jack's party?" asked Tom.

"Yeah, I'm going," said Hiccup. It took him a few seconds to realize what Tom said. "Wait a second. Are _you_ going?"

"Yeah," said Rachel. "We're both going. It's gonna be a blast! Normally, we're having too much fun pranking people on Halloween to care about parties."

"Or we just forget," said Tom. "That's a thing we do."

"Alright, everybody!" Mr. Johann had opened the classroom door. "Time for class! Take your seats!"

"Well, here we go," said Tom.

As soon as Hiccup took his seat, he looked towards Astrid, who had already taken hers. When she noticed him, she smiled and gave him a subtle wave. Hiccup reciprocated her actions and started to take his stuff out of his backpack.

He knew it was going to be another three hours before he would get a chance to talk to her properly.

* * *

 _11:35 AM  
Lunch Area_

Ever since he had started eating outside, Hiccup had taken to a particular table that never seemed to be occupied by anyone else. After he and Astrid became friends, she sat there with him every day during lunch. Eventually, Jack, George and Heather noticed this and joined them. Hiccup welcomed the company, but sitting alone with Astrid felt special to him. He and Astrid always tried to get to the table before everybody else, and this day was one of those days that they got just a few minutes to talk alone.

When Astrid arrived at the table, he jokingly said, "Long time, no see."

"It's not my fault we're not doing any class projects together," said Astrid, sitting down next to him and opening her lunchbox.

"That's not even true anymore," said Hiccup. "We're going to be working together on the Dragon Project in Engineering. Anyway, did you hear about what happened to Stanley?"

"Yeah," said Astrid. "It's all anybody's talking about."

"I honestly had no idea he would be suspended," said Hiccup. "How long do you think he'll be gone?"

"Maybe he'll be back next week," said Astrid. "I mean, it's not like he brought a knife to school or anything like that."

"Where's your Halloween costume?" asked Hiccup.

"At home," said Astrid. "Where's yours?"

"Same," said Hiccup. "I completely forgot to put it on. So, we haven't really talked since Friday. What's up?"

"Not much," said Astrid. "I'm just excited for Jack's party."

"I know, right?" Hiccup agreed. "Heather got me super hyped for that over the weekend. She knows Jack much better than I do, turns out."

"Are they secretly a couple or something?" asked Astrid.

Hiccup burst into laughter. "I don't think so," he said. "One time, I asked her if she was interested in Jack, and she said she thought I'd lost my mind."

"That's what I call avoiding topics," said Astrid. After a brief silent moment, she said, "Hiccup, there's something I wanted to talk to you about. Something that's been on my mind for a while."

"What's that?" asked Hiccup.

Astrid saw that Jack, Heather and Fishlegs were coming to the table and she said, "I'll tell you later on. I don't really want anyone else involved."

"Okay," said Hiccup.

* * *

For the rest of the day, Hiccup meant to ask Astrid what it was she wanted to talk about, but the opportunity never presented itself. As soon as he got home, he finished what little homework he had and went upstairs to put his Star Wars Jedi costume on. When he went to the bathroom to check himself over in the mirror, he found Heather doing the same in a ninja outfit.

"Are you sure you want to wear that?" he asked.

"Jack had a similar plan," said Heather. "We're gonna be a dynamic duo."

"Alright," said Hiccup. "I just don't think it's smart to wear all black."

"I'll be careful," said Heather.

"That's exactly what I said when I sped ahead of you on my bike," said Hiccup. "And I paid for it with my leg."

Heather glared at him. "I'll stay off the streets, if that's what you mean."

"Alright," said Hiccup. He went back to his room to get his lightsaber. The Haddocks had taken a Disneyland trip during the summer and the green lightsaber was his memento. After checking the batteries, he walked downstairs with the saber and his pillowcase. He was ready.

* * *

 _4:20 PM  
Jack Collins's Residence_

After Hiccup and Heather said goodbye to their mom, who had driven them to Jack's new house, they started to walk up to his front door, which was open.

"You know, this isn't far from Astrid's house," said Hiccup. "It's just around the corner."

"I noticed," said Heather. "And to think he moved here, of all places. Honestly, we should have seen him around here by now."

Jack's dad, Tim, walked outside, carrying a toolbox. "Harry! Heather! Hey, guys!"

"What's up, Mr. Collins?" Heather asked.

"What's up is the party in the backyard!" said Tim. He looked at Hiccup. "Hey, wait a minute! You're the kid who Jack says got Stanley suspended from school. I'm not sure whether to kick him out or let him stay."

"Wait, Stanley's here?" asked Hiccup.

"Yeah," said Tim. "I was going to kick him out, but Jack said to let him stay. I don't know if he's planning some kind of social experiment to put this kid in his proper place, but I'd watch my back if I were you, Harry. Jack's told me how much of a meanie Stanley is."

"Alright," said Hiccup.

"Party's in the back," said Tim. "I've been working on my car. Trying to proof it against this DD guy. I've heard that every time he kills, he uses a stolen getaway car. Don't want it to be mine next time."

"Okay," said Heather.

She and Hiccup made their way to the back of the house. Sure enough, Jack and Stanley were in the backyard. Hiccup could just make out what Jack was saying.

"I know you want to give him a hard time, but I'm gonna give you three strikes before I kick you out, Stanley. My house, my rules."

"He's my cousin," said Stanley. "And you're sounding like my dad! _'You're such a disappointment! Suspended for a week? What kind of cousin are you?'_ "

"Why do you think Hiccup reported you to the dean? And why do you think you got suspended?" The voice belonged to Astrid, and Hiccup noticed for the first time that she was carving a pumpkin at the patio table.

"Okay, fine! So I got a little over-the-top that time."

"Yeah, you could say that," said Hiccup, butting into the conversation.

Stanley turned around and saw his cousins in the patio doorway. "Oh! Hey, guys!"

Hiccup noticed Stanley was wearing black robes and carrying a red lightsaber. "Oh, wow," he said. He held up his green lightsaber and said, "This is so awkward."

"Now we _have_ to act like foes at each other's throats," said Stanley. "I'm Kylo Ren and you're ... I'm not sure what you are. Some masculine version of Rey?"

"No, I was meant to be Luke Skywalker," said Hiccup.

"Oh," said Stanley. "Still a Jedi, so I guess I have to be a bully, which will get me kicked out of this party."

"Well, if that's the case, then should we settle it in a duel?"

"I always win, Hiccup," said Stanley.

"I might have an advantage," said Hiccup. "I'm smaller than you."

"Okay," said Stanley. He lit up his lightsaber and walked into the grass. "Come at me, cousin!" Hiccup lit up his lightsaber and followed suit.

The duel was short and resulted in Hiccup tripping on his prosthetic leg. After a few more tries, the same thing happened again and again. "Okay, you win!" Hiccup finally said.

"Hiccup, you're not supposed to give up so easily," said Astrid, having finished her carving. She held out her hand and said, "Let me try."

"Don't kill him," said Hiccup, handing Astrid his lightsaber. He then noticed Astrid was wearing a skeleton costume. "Nice costume, by the way."

"Thanks," said Astrid. She focused on Stanley and said, "It's time you met your match."

"Was that a dating joke?" asked Stanley.

Without warning, Astrid launched a series of attacks on Stanley that he could barely block. "This is what you get for flirting at the daughter of a police officer!" she replied. She soon knocked him down and held the saber to his neck. "Happy now?"

Snotlout stared wide-eyed into her threatening glare and said, "You are amazing! How did you do that?"

"Just a little something my dad taught me," said Astrid, stepping away from him. She handed the saber back to Hiccup. "You want to carve a pumpkin? There's plenty. They're from a pumpkin patch owned by Jack's aunt." There was a pile of pumpkins from which to choose on the patio and carving tools on the table.

"This looks fun," said Hiccup. "I think I'll carve one!"

After a while, Hiccup had carved his pumpkin. Instead of the spooky pumpkin most people make, he tried to make it look as friendly as possible by giving it rounded eyes and a smile with no fangs. Astrid's pumpkin looked like a skull when it was finished. "I wanted it to match my costume," she said. Stanley's pumpkin ended up looking like a face with round eyes, a small triangular nose, and fangs. Heather's pumpkin had a long nose and a rectangular mouth with semicircular eyes.

"Are you guys ready for the best pun in Halloween history?" asked Jack, hiding his pumpkin's face.

"What is it?" asked Hiccup.

Jack turned around his pumpkin and revealed his carving. Instead of a face, he had carved his name into the pumpkin. "You know why I relate so well to pumpkin faces? Cause -haha- it's ... a _Jack_ -o-Lantern! _Ba-DUM! TSHH!_ "

Hiccup suppressed a smile when he heard the pun, but he had to stifle a laugh when Jack made the rimshot sound effect with his mouth. Astrid shook her head in disappointment, but struggled to keep herself from smiling. Heather chuckled.

"Astrid, I give you full permission to kill me," said Stanley.

"How about no?" said Astrid. "I'd rather not do the time."

"Jack, I wanted to laugh so badly, but it's not the best joke I've ever heard you tell," said Hiccup.

"Well, the best joke I've ever told is probably the one about the five people in a room where the first person to reach the only door is the last person to leave," said Jack.

"That's not joke; that's a riddle," said Stanley. "I hate riddles!"

"I'm gonna _rid_ this world of _haters_ because haters are _garbage!_ " Jack thumped the trash can they had dumped the insides of the pumpkins into.

"Gosh darn it, Jack!" said Stanley. "I should have known that was a pun setup!"

"Did I set you up there?" said Jack, grinning.

"STOP!" Stanley exclaimed.

Jack took out his phone and held the home button. "Show me a picture of a stop sign."

Before anyone could react, Fishlegs stumbled through the door in a wizard costume. "Hey, guys!" he said. "Sorry I'm late. It looks like it's time to go Trick-or-Treating."

Jack tapped the home button again and pocketed his phone. "That it is, George," he said. "Alright, enough puns. Let's go put these pumpkins outside, put candles inside them, and see what happens."

As soon as they were finished setting up the Jack-o-Lanterns on the turf, Jack said, "Okay, time for the main event! I promised a game, and you're getting a game. We're going Trick-or-Treating, but everyone has to buddy up into teams. We're competing for the team to get the most candy."

"I'll partner with Hiccup!" said Astrid.

"I'll go with Jack!" said Heather.

"Are you really sticking me with Fishface?" Stanley grumbled.

"That's strike one for being mean, Stanley!" said Jack. "Two more and you're disqualified from the prize."

"I mean, sure! Let's do this, George!" Stanley amended. "We're gonna win this ... this... Wait. What's the prize, anyway?"

"Dibs on the pizza," said Jack.

"Can we join?" asked the familiar voices of Rachel and Tom Thorston. They walked up to the porch with empty pillowcases in hand.

"Sure, even though you were late... creeps," said Jack, visibly cringing. "You went a little crazy with the fake guts. That is hideous." He wasn't lying. The twins had transformed into real zombies with rotten skin and extra eyeballs.

"Hey, don't judge us!" said Tom.

"He's right," said Hiccup. "You look scary, Tom."

"Then let's get on with this," said Stanley. "I'm about to throw up."

"Oh, are you squeamish?" asked Astrid, a little teasingly.

"No!" Stanley yelled. "I'm just sick! No, I'm not sick, either! I'm just..."

"It's okay to be squeamish," said Astrid. "You're just like my brother."

"You just don't get it," said Stanley, crossing his arms.

Jack waited for everyone to quiet down and looked at his watch. "Teams, you have until 8:30 to come back with your loot to weigh. Disperse. Game starts ... now!"

* * *

Hiccup hadn't gone Trick-or-Treating since the loss of his leg, but he found it just as fun as he had when he was younger, if not a bit more. Part of it was because he was older and could handle more scary stuff than he could when he was little. But now, he was having a lot more fun since Astrid was with him. And she seemed to be having just as much fun as he was.

After going through a haunted house, Hiccup was about to continue on to the next street, but Astrid stopped him. "Hold on a second!" she said.

"Okay," said Hiccup. He turned around and saw her leaning against a tree near the corner of the street. "Hey, you alright?" he asked.

"I'm fine," said Astrid. "Just trying to recover from that big jumpscare." She seemed to be breathing heavily. "That creep in the corner was trying to grab at me."

"It's just an act," said Hiccup. "If he really was trying to get you, you could have taken him down easily." He held up the saber for emphasis. Its green glow lit up the darkness under the tree. "You know how to handle that."

"I know," said Astrid. "But ... remember before, when I wanted to talk to you privately?"

"Yeah," said Hiccup. "What is it?"

"I'm kind of paranoid right now," she said. "I mean, yeah, I'm wearing a skeleton costume and all, but Heather, Jack and Stanley are wearing pretty much all black. I'm worried about them."

"You think they'll get snatched?" asked Hiccup.

"Something like that," said Astrid.

"I had a similar concern about Heather," said Hiccup. "I thought she'd get hit by a car because she's wearing that ninja costume."

"You couldn't convince her to do something else?" asked Astrid.

"There was nothing I could do to change her mind," said Hiccup. "Besides, she's got Jack with her. What could possibly go wrong?"

Astrid gave him a blank stare.

"You know what? Never mind," said Hiccup. "I shouldn't act like he's her guardian angel." He paused for a moment. "We should get going." He looked at his watch. "It's almost time to head back to Jack's place, anyway," he said. "Are you ready?"

Astrid held up her pillowcase, which looked half-full of candy. "Might as well be," she said. "This is _very_ unhealthy."

Hiccup laughed. "Alright, let's go."

* * *

It was 8:45 by the time they got back to Jack's house. When they got there, they found Fishlegs, Stanley, Jack and Heather in the kitchen.

"Either way, I win!" said Stanley, staring Heather in the face.

"Not if Hiccup and Astrid got more than you did!" said Heather.

"Why would they do that?" said Stanley. "Their skinny stomachs don't even have room for this much candy, so they'll obviously lose!"

Astrid stopped in her tracks. "No, he didn't," she fumed.

"He did," said Hiccup. "He belittles people like that. Don't let it get to your head." He stepped forward and announced his presence. "Hey, let's get this over with so you two can stop arguing!" He placed his pillowcase on the scale and Astrid stacked hers on top of his. Jack read the scale, wrote the weight on a piece of paper, and groaned.

"Stanley and Fishlegs win," he said.

"Yeah!" said Fishlegs.

"See?" said Stanley. "Stanley is the best!"

"To be fair, there _was_ way more candy in Fishlegs's bag, so I think you were just slacking off," said Jack.

Before Stanley could react, a strange alarm sounded on all their phones.

Hiccup pulled it out and read the alert. When he did, his heart sank.

 _Town lockdown in effect due to a potential spotting of DD. Lock yourself inside and turn off the lights. Stay safe._

"Town lockdown?" Stanley read aloud. "Who the heck is DD?"

"Are you serious?" asked Astrid. "You've never heard of the serial cop killer DD?"

"Sounds made up," said Stanley.

"Oh, he's real," said Hiccup.

Stanley crossed his arms in defiance. "Humph! Believe what you want! I'm going home!" He marched towards the door.

Tim latched the door shut and said, in the sharpest voice Hiccup had heard from any adult besides his own dad, "No!"

"'Scuse me?" said Stanley. "I said I was going home."

"You're not going anywhere, kiddo!" said Tim. "None of you are! This town is on lockdown! Jack, would you turn off the lights upstairs and close all the windows? Blinds, too?"

"Sure, Dad," said Jack. He sprinted up the stairs.

"What'll we all do now?" asked Stanley.

"Looks like it's going to be a sleepover," said Tim. "There's a wall we knocked down upstairs to merge two of the bedrooms into one theater. Lucky for you, we haven't moved all the furniture up yet. If this town is on lockdown because the police are looking for an evasive serial killer, it's likely that they'll cancel school tomorrow. These circumstances warrant a sleepover."

"Are you serious?" asked Stanley. "I have to spend the night with all these guys?"

"What reason do you have to grumble?" asked Tim. "You're not even supposed to be here! You should be thankful Jack told me to let you stay! Help me bring the pizzas upstairs, will ya? The rest of you, get upstairs. Jack will help you get settled in."

"Wait a minute!" said Astrid. "What happened to Tom and Rachel?"

"Their parents came to pick them up," said Tim. "They looked mad. I guess the kids didn't say they were going out."

"Oh," said Astrid. "Okay."

Hiccup thought he could detect an uncharacteristic level of concern in Astrid's voice. "Astrid, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Hiccup," said Astrid. "What about you?"

"Astrid, you can't act like this," said Hiccup. "I'm spooked out that he's back, and you're just fine? After what he did?"

"Hiccup, not a day goes by that I don't think about that monster!" Astrid snapped. "I'm just peachy, okay?"

 _What's going on with her?_ he wondered silently.

* * *

 **Hey, guys. Sorry this took so long! Enough said about that! If you've been reading this story and you're thinking Astrid hasn't been taking her father's death very hard, that will be addressed in the next chapter! Thank you, Sonochu, for that comment. I appreciate it. The next chapter is an extended version of what I had before, when I originally wrote this story. I didn't think I was going to dedicate an entire chapter to the sleepover, but that's what ended up happening! I can't wait to get started! =)**


	6. Chapter 6: The Lockdown

**First off, thank you for all the reviews, Guest. It would be easier for me to address you directly if you nicknamed yourself, but it's okay. I appreciate the feedback nonetheless. Yes, I do think different people cope with loss differently, and that's going to be addressed in this chapter. And you know what that also means?**

 **HICCSTRID DEVELOPMENT! FINALLY!**

 **I'd like to point out to you guys that this story doesn't follow Race to the Edge in any way, at least for now. I'm all caught up in the series, so I know what's going on with the Dragon Hunters and all that, and I'd like to let you guys know that there is an implied ship in this story that involves Heather, but not Fishlegs. I wrote the original** ** _Berk High School_** **story before I even knew about Race to the Edge, I think, and I want to stay as close to that story as possible. I have made a couple of changes. In my original story, the Halloween party in the last chapter took place in Fishlegs's apartment and didn't even involve pumpkin carving. I changed a couple of the costumes as well, but I won't get into detail regarding that. You get the idea. Don't be upset when Heather doesn't go out with Fishlegs.**

 **We left off on the scene where the entire town of Berk goes on lockdown and the gang (minus Ruffnut and Tuffnut) is stuck in Jack's house after Trick-or-Treating. I wasn't going to dedicate an entire chapter to this originally, but here we are. Let's go for it.**

* * *

 _Chapter 6  
Lockdown_

 _8:48 PM  
Monday, October 31, 2016  
_ _Jack Collins's Residence_

When Hiccup entered the room Tim was referring to, he immediately knew what he'd meant by having not moved all the furniture up. There was one couch and the bare bones of an entertainment center, but that was it. It was a large room, but accounting for the fact that a wall had been knocked down to make the space, it shouldn't have been a surprise that there were two doors leading to the upstairs hallway.

Astrid, Heather and George trailed in behind him. "Wow," said Heather. "That's a lot of space."

"Yeah," said Hiccup. "Not bad, huh?"

Everyone started spreading out around the room. With the lights out, the only source of light was the street lamp outside the window. Hiccup looked outside, only for Astrid to turn the blinds down on him. "Don't do that!" she quietly snapped.

Hiccup held his hands up by his collarbone and said, "I was just looking."

"There is a _murderer_ on the loose, and you're looking outside?" Astrid seemed utterly flabbergasted. "What if he was out there? He could have seen you!"

"Astrid, as much as I appreciate the concern, I feel like you're being a bit overly paranoid," said Hiccup.

"My dad wouldn't have taken the chance of losing me if he was here," said Astrid. "I'm not about to take any chances with you!"

"You don't have to yell," said Hiccup. "Why are you acting like this?"

"Leave her alone," said Heather.

"Yeah," said George. "Astrid has every right to act this way."

"Fishlegs, seriously?" said Hiccup. "You're playing the 'every right' card?"

"Maybe 'right' is the wrong word," said George. "She has every _reason_ to. This guy did kill her father, after all. If it was me, I'd think the same way."

Tim and Stanley entered the room before Hiccup could respond. Stanley was carrying pizza boxes and Tim was holding candles and a lighter. "We'll eat the pizza in the candlelight," said Tim. "Jack's getting camping mattresses and sleeping bags for you so you won't be fighting for the couch."

"Fine by me," said Stanley, setting the pizza boxes down on the floor. "I'd rather sleep on a nice mattress than an uncomfortable couch."

"What's wrong with sleeping on a couch?" asked Astrid.

"I'll have you know, Astrid, that couches aren't designed for sleeping," said Stanley. "They're for lounging, and I do not sleep where people lounge."

"Yes, you do," said Hiccup. "You fell asleep in the homework lounge last week."

"Because I was bored," said Stanley. "Don't you ever get bored, Hiccup?"

"Well, thanks to my... Never mind. I'm not gonna say it," said Hiccup.

"Why not?" asked Stanley.

"Because if I said what I was going to, I would have implied that you didn't have friends, and that wasn't my intention at all," said Hiccup.

A look of shock crossed Stanley's face. After a moment, he said, "Say what you want about me, but the 'no friends' thing was a low blow, especially for you."

"Stanley, you're an idiot if you call that a low blow and say the same thing about him," said Astrid. "And I heard that crack about us being underweight earlier, which we are not!"

"Would you three _stop fighting!?_ " The voice belonged to Tim, who was lighting candles around the room. "I wasn't going to bring it up, but this is what I was afraid would happen if Stanley stayed."

"Well, no matter," said Jack, who had arrived with the blankets, camping mattresses and sleeping bags. "Let's just play the silent game while we eat our pizza."

"When do we start?" asked Stanley.

"It starts when I drop the stuff and it ends when I snap my fingers," said Jack. He immediately dropped what he was carrying.

At that moment, everyone fell silent. Hiccup didn't dare speak in case Stanley tried to make fun of him again. Until that moment, silence had never been so unsettling, especially with DD potentially right outside the window.

Everyone lined up for pizza. Since George and Stanley had won the competition, they got their slices first. Hiccup took his immediately afterwards and took to the floor near the couch.

"As the only adult here, I am exempt from the silent game," said Tim, putting a stack of napkins next to the pizza boxes. "Everyone take a napkin and, please, nobody make a mess."

Before Hiccup could get up again to get himself a napkin, Astrid sat next to him and handed one to him. Not wanting to ruin the game, Hiccup mouthed a silent "thank you." Astrid winked and started to eat her pizza. As the rest of their party started to eat their pizza, Hiccup couldn't help observing Astrid. He noticed that she was taking occasional sideways glances to the window, something Hiccup had never seen her do before. Well, there _was_ a murderer on the loose, as she'd said before. Her behavior wasn't completely unwarranted, especially since the murderer in question had killed her dad. Hiccup wanted to ask her how she was feeling at that moment, but he didn't want to ruin the silent game, which would give Stanley all the reason to make fun of him.

 _I'll talk to her when the opportunity presents itself,_ he thought.

A second round of pizza slices went around, and a third. Soon, Tim walked downstairs to put the leftovers in the refrigerator. Jack snapped his fingers.

"Finally!" Stanley yelled. "The silence was killing me!"

"Shh!" Jack hissed. "Not so loud!"

"Fine!" said Stanley. "You don't have to whisper-shout at me."

"Guys, you have to promise not to freak out when I tell you this," said Jack.

"What is it?" asked Heather.

Jack pointed to the sleeping bags and self-inflating camping mattresses. "I only have three sets," he said. "One for me, one for my mom, and one for my dad."

"I call the big sleeping bag!" said Stanley. He started to move towards the pile.

"The big one goes to Fishlegs," said Jack.

"Why?" asked Stanley.

"He's the biggest out of all six of us," said Jack. "No offense, Fishlegs."

"Oh, it's fine," said George. He took the big sleeping bag and one of the mattresses.

"If you don't want to take the couch, Stanley, you might as well have the next one," said Jack. Stanley took the second sleeping bag and mattress without question. Jack turned to Heather, Astrid and Hiccup. "Sorry, guys. Like I said, I only had three. Which of you wants the last one?"

"Not me," said Astrid. "I'll take the couch if nobody else wants it."

"Heather, you can have the sleeping bag," said Hiccup.

"But where'll you sleep?" asked Heather.

Jack spoke up. "It won't be as comfortable, but we can Jerry-rig a bed for Hiccup. I brought in a spare pillow and a bunch of blankets."

"Hiccup, do you want to take the couch instead?" asked Astrid, suddenly sounding concerned. "I'll let you."

"No," said Hiccup. "I insist you take it if you think it'll be comfortable."

"Okay," said Astrid.

Tim returned with ice cream sandwiches. "I had these just for the occasion," he said. "I was going to offer them earlier, but I didn't have time to after the lockdown started. Again, don't make any messes. This carpet is brand new."

The ice cream sandwiches turned out to be small bricks of mint chocolate ice cream between two chocolate layers. Hiccup was expecting vanilla ice cream, but the mint chocolate flavor tasted even better than he expected. He hadn't had mint chocolate ice cream in a long time.

Before long, Stanley, George and Heather sealed up the mattresses and got in the sleeping bags. Jack helped Hiccup pack a bunch of the blankets into something of a mattress. Soon, they had something that any decent person still wouldn't call a bed, but it was all they had to work with.

"Sorry again, man," said Jack. "If I only had a fourth set, we wouldn't have to do this."

"It's okay, Jack," said Hiccup.

Jack's voice lowered to a barely audible whisper and he said, "And just between you and me, I couldn't help noticing that Astrid is acting more anxious than I would have expected her to in this situation."

Hiccup took a quick glance at Astrid and saw that she had wrapped herself in a blanket on the couch, but was staring out the window. "DD killed her father," he whispered to Jack. "What would you expect?"

Jack shrugged. "Just ... think about talking to her, okay? I initiated that silent game thing so Stanley would quit bothering you, but I could tell you wanted to talk to her."

Hiccup eyed Jack quizzically. "You know, I find it very interesting how you can read people so easily," said Hiccup. "Now that I know you just a little bit better, I'm not sure how I feel about that."

"I don't read people like books," said Jack. "I observe." he glanced around for a second to make sure nobody was listening. "You know what? I've never told anyone at school this, but I have high-functioning autism. I've been in social skills groups for years. I wouldn't call myself an expert on the matter, but going to those groups has taught me how to read people. So you can't really blame me for knowing these things. Capiche?"

Hiccup paused before answering. "I didn't know about that. I never would have guessed you were autistic."

"Nobody does, and I don't like to talk about it," said Jack. "I don't want jerks like Stanley to make fun of me."

"Yeah," said Hiccup. He thought for a moment. "Why are you even telling me about your concern for Astrid's anxiety?"

"Because I wanted to talk to her about it, too, but she doesn't know me very well," said Jack. "And I doubt she trusts me very much, because ... well, I said something to her about you two being the talk of the whole freshman class. One in three students thinks you and Astrid are a thing."

"A 'thing'?" Hiccup repeated. "You mean, like a couple? I know that's what people think, and I'm not comfortable with them thinking it. It's not true."

"Listen here, pal," said Jack. "You might not be her boyfriend, but as far as I know, you're her best friend. If that's true, take my advice and talk to her. That might help ease the anxiety a little."

"What if she doesn't want to?" asked Hiccup.

"Don't worry about that; if there's anyone she'll want to talk to about it, it's you," said Jack. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I should put out these candles now."

Hiccup decided not to ask Jack any more questions. He put his prosthetic leg near his "bed" and tucked himself in. When Jack and Tim left to sleep in their own rooms, the only light source was a dim night light in the corner. Hiccup's eyes adjusted to the darkness soon enough. He thought back to his conversation with Jack and looked over at Astrid. She wasn't even trying to sleep. She was still staring at the window from the couch. Hiccup was about to call out to her, but she suddenly put her head on the pillow and closed her eyes, as if she had decided to try going to sleep.

 _Well, there goes that chance,_ Hiccup thought. He tried to find a comfortable position to sleep in, but failed miserably. _It's going to be a long night._

* * *

 _Later that night..._

For the umpteenth time, Hiccup turned over to his left side. As far as he knew, the rest of the party had fallen asleep, and he didn't even know what time it was. Even Astrid seemed to be sleeping, and she was on the couch. It must have been a fairly comfortable couch if she was able to sleep on it. He opened his eyes and looked up at the couch to see if he could still see her. It was only then that he realized something was wrong.

Astrid appeared to be mumbling in her sleep. After a few seconds, the mumbles became intelligible words. "No... no ... Dad ... Dad, wait ... don't go ... Dad!" She started to hyperventilate. Suddenly, her eyes opened and she gasped for breath. She seemed to regain her composure, but she buried her face into the pillow and started whimpering.

Hiccup's instincts kicked in and he threw his blanket off of his body. He hobbled over to the couch and said, "Astrid, are you okay?"

A muffled "yes" made its way through the pillow, but it wasn't enough to mask the sobs coming from Astrid's throat.

"Astrid, please," said Hiccup. "Talk to me. I hate seeing you like this." Astrid reluctantly took her head away from the pillow, sat up on the couch, and looked down at Hiccup. He could barely see the streaks of tears across her face. "Tell me what's wrong," he said.

At first, Astrid didn't reply. Hiccup almost asked again when she whispered, "I'm ... I'm scared ... and I miss my dad." She covered her face in her hands and let out a quiet sob.

That did it. Hiccup climbed onto the couch beside Astrid and hugged her. She didn't hesitate to hug him back, crying just a little bit more.

"Shh," said Hiccup. "He won't find us here. Tim's house has an alarm system. The police will know if he breaks in."

"But you know what he does when anyone calls the police," said Astrid. "He kills everyone in sight and gets away with it." She was still crying.

"Astrid, please," said Hiccup. "Forget him. What would your dad have you do right now?"

"Stay calm, deep breaths," said Astrid.

"That's right," said Hiccup.

Astrid seemed to relax into Hiccup's embrace, but more sobs escaped her body. "I still miss him," she whispered.

"I know," said Hiccup. He desperately tried to think of ways to make her feel better, but came up with nothing. He had never seen Astrid cry before. Unable to think of anything else, he wiped another tear off her face and lightly kissed her on the cheek. She responded by hugging him tighter.

"Why did you do that?" she asked.

"That's all I could think of," Hiccup whispered. "I've never seen you cry before, and like I said, I hate seeing you like this."

Astrid sighed. "Hiccup, I owe you an apology."

"Why?" asked Hiccup.

"I've been hiding a lot from you," said Astrid. "The truth is, my dad's death has taken more of a toll on me than I've let you know. I have nightmares, and I never go out by myself anymore because I have this strange sense of paranoia. I'm sorry this is how you had to find out." She tried to pull away from Hiccup's arms, but he only tightened his grip on her.

"Astrid, I accept your apology," said Hiccup. "But just know that I'm always here for you, no matter what. Always. You understand that? If you ever need to talk to someone, or if you even need a shoulder to cry on, I'm always here, okay?"

Astrid hugged him again and said, "Thank you, Hiccup." She started literally crying into his shoulder, but Hiccup didn't mind. He started to subtly rock her body side to side.

"Shh," he whispered. "I'm right here."

After a few minutes, Astrid had calmed down. She and Hiccup sat in silence for a while, simply sitting side by side. Eventually, he broke the silence.

"We should probably get to sleep," he said. He started to shift towards the floor, but Astrid stopped him.

"Wait," she said.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Will you stay up here with me?" she asked. The question caught Hiccup off guard, and he stared at her for a moment. He could see her blushing. "I'll be right behind you."

After Hiccup recovered from the awkwardness of the thought of sleeping on the couch with her, he said, "Of course." Astrid lay down on her right side against the back of the couch and Hiccup followed suit in front of her. He felt her cover both their bodies with her blanket and snuggle up to his back. Without warning, she embraced him from behind.

"Is this okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, it's fine," said Hiccup.

"Good," said Astrid.

For a while, they were silent once more, but Hiccup couldn't stop thinking about whether he should tell her about his feelings. Would that be too much? Fortunately, Astrid answered that question before he could ask. "Hiccup, can I ask you something?"

"Sure," he said.

"What are we?"

"Um... Where is this going?" he asked.

"Remember on Friday, when I said we shouldn't talk about our feelings?" Without waiting for Hiccup to reply, Astrid said, "I regret that decision. I didn't just kiss you to comfort you. I like you a lot. But ... I bet you knew that already."

"Yeah," said Hiccup. He found one of her hands on his chest and held it. "I like you a lot, too, Astrid."

"So, does that make us boyfriend and girlfriend?" asked Astrid.

Hiccup hesitated before replying. "I'm not sure," he said. "We haven't known each other that long, and we haven't even been on a date yet."

"What do you think we should do about it?" asked Astrid.

Hiccup blushed. In truth, he had never thought seriously about being in a relationship with Astrid, and it scared him to imagine it. "Let's give it some time," he said. "I need to figure out how I really feel about this."

Astrid leaned upwards and hovered over his face to kiss his cheek. "You do that," she said. She settled back down behind him again and said, "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," said Hiccup. Before he fell asleep, though, he thought to himself, _What have I just gotten myself into?_

* * *

 _The next morning, 7:38 AM..._

A tap on the shoulder roused Hiccup from his slumber. When he looked up, Heather was hovering over him. He felt a pair of arms wrapped around his chest and realized Astrid was still asleep behind him.

He gently shushed Heather. "What time is it?" he asked.

"It's 7:38," said Heather. "Tim got a call earlier. The lockdown's over, but school's cancelled for the day because of the risks."

"There's no way he's still out there," said Hiccup.

"I don't think so, either," said Heather. "So, what happened last night?"

"She woke up crying in the middle of the night and I came up here to make sure she was okay," said Hiccup. "I'm not gonna lie to you; she was a mess."

"So what did you do?" asked Heather.

"I came up here and just hugged her, at first, but ... I kissed her on the cheek before too long," said Hiccup. "Then ... later on, we were talking about our feelings. I think I remember saying we should still give it some time before we go on a date."

"Hiccup, just admit it!" said Heather. "You love her! You're just too nervous to say it!"

"Hey, that's taking it a little too far," said Hiccup. "We haven't even known each other that long."

"If you keep playing that card, your relationship with her won't progress at all," said Heather. "I'm just trying to make sure you aren't hurting her feelings. You should ask her out. Do it sooner rather than later."

Hiccup sighed. "Maybe you're right, Heather," he said. "But if you keep doing this, it won't be too long before I start teasing you about Jack."

"You wouldn't," said Heather.

"Wouldn't I?"

"Is that a challenge?"

"Maybe."

"It's a challenge I won't take," said Heather.

Hiccup looked around the room. "Where is everybody?" he asked. Stanley and George were gone.

"Jack just came in here and woke me up," said Heather. "George and Stanley are downstairs eating breakfast."

"Did they see us?" asked Hiccup.

"Probably," said Heather.

Hiccup shook his head. "Go downstairs and handle them," he said. "I'll wake her up, okay?"

"Okay," said Heather. She walked out of the room, leaving the door slightly ajar.

Hiccup relaxed his entire body, relieved that the conversation was over. He savored the feeling of Astrid's embrace a few seconds longer. He brought his right hand around to her shoulder and shook it. "Hey, Astrid," he whispered. "Astrid, come on. Wake up."

Astrid yawned and tightened her grip on Hiccup. "Just a little bit longer, please?" she muttered.

"Astrid, Tim has breakfast downstairs," said Hiccup. "I know you're comfy over here, and you're probably still a bit sleepy, but we have to get up now." He felt her nuzzle his head before sitting up. "You ready to get up now?" he asked.

"Yeah," said Astrid. She walked over to the mess of blankets that would have been Hiccup's bed and picked up his prosthetic leg. "Hmm. It's not as heavy as I thought it would be." She handed it to him. "Here you go."

"Thanks," said Hiccup. He took the leg and attached it to his stump. After standing up, he said, "Shall we go downstairs and get breakfast?"

"I have to go to the bathroom first," said Astrid. "I'll be down once I'm done."

"Okay," said Hiccup. Once they left the room, he walked toward the stairway and she went to the bathroom. Downstairs, he found Heather, Jack, Stanley and George at the breakfast table. There were two empty plates at the table and Tim was in the living room, watching TV.

Stanley was the first to notice Hiccup. "Oh, boy. The Jedi returns," he said.

"What?" It took Hiccup a couple of seconds to realize he was still in his costume. "Oh, right! That!"

"So, I gotta know," said Stanley. "How'd you end up on the couch with Astrid last night?"

Hiccup groaned. "Do you really have to know?"

"I'm sure all of us would like to," said George.

"Okay, fine," said Hiccup. "Astrid woke up from a nightmare last night and started crying. I went to check up on her and I stayed up there to keep her company. We ended up falling asleep. What did you think happened? Don't answer that. You're the dirtiest minded person I know, Stanley."

"Why would she be crying?" asked Stanley. "This dude she's freaking out about doesn't exist."

"Yes, he does!" Heather snapped. "Our dad has been trying to pin this guy down for months! DD is the serial killer who killed Astrid's father! If you were her, what would you do?"

Stanley couldn't form an answer.

"That's exactly what I thought," said Heather.

"I didn't say anything," said Stanley.

"What Heather means is," said Jack, "you have no reason to talk down on her like that."

Stanley glared at Jack, but then said, "You know what? Fine. I'll drop it."

After Hiccup sat down, Astrid walked downstairs and sat in the empty chair next to him. Breakfast was eaten in an eerie silence, during which Hiccup's mind raced. If he and Astrid were this close, should he at least try to be her boyfriend? But what would the others think of him for dating someone at 14 years old? Sure, he was almost 15, but still. He had never felt more shy in his life, not even in elementary school, when he had always watched her from a distance and never spoken to her. But then, what reason did he have to be so shy and nervous? Astrid had already outright admitted that she liked him, so any nervousness he felt about being around her should have dissipated, but it was still there.

 _Why are feelings so darn complicated_ _?_ he thought to himself.

* * *

 _Later that morning..._

Hiccup had decided to walk with Astrid to her house. After all, she had told him she didn't like going out alone anymore, but it wasn't just because of that. He wanted to talk to her about their relationship, but he wasn't sure how to start. Fortunately, she noticed his silence.

"I know that look," she said. "What's going on?"

Hiccup sighed. "Astrid, last night ... I was wrong."

"About what?" asked Astrid. "I don't understand."

He stopped in his tracks so she could turn and face him, even though they were two houses away from hers. "We can't go on like this, hiding our feelings from one another. Up until last night, I wasn't sure you liked me more than you'd like anyone else."

"Most of my friends are guys, Hiccup," said Astrid. "But you've been my best friend for a while now, and ... until this weekend, I guess I was too embarrassed to think about us as anything else."

"Well, then, what do you think we should do?" asked Hiccup.

"I don't know," said Astrid. "What do you think? You said you'd figure out how you felt, and I guess you did. What do you want to do?"

"Well..." Hiccup scratched his head. "Maybe we could go and get pizza together this weekend or something. No Jack, no Heather, no Fishlegs, and definitely no Stanley. Just you and me. I'll pay."

Astrid grinned at him slyly and said, "Harry Haddock, _did you just ask me out!?_ "

"Um... I guess so?" he said. "If you look at it that way—." He was abruptly cut off by Astrid hugging him. He was initially too shocked to hug her back, but he did so after a couple of seconds.

He was about to speak, but she whispered in his ear, "Hiccup, I realized just now that I didn't thank you for staying with me last night. Normally, I have a weird sense of paranoia when I go to sleep because of DD, but I felt safe with you. I haven't slept that well in so long. Thank you." She gave him a squeeze and released him.

"You're welcome, Astrid," said Hiccup. "I'll see you at school tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay," said Astrid. She quickly pecked his cheek and jogged to her doorstep.

Hiccup couldn't help snickering at how ridiculous she looked jogging in her skeleton costume with her pillowcase. When she had gone into her house, he walked back to Jack's place.

He couldn't wait to tell Heather what had just happened.

* * *

 **AND that wraps it up for this chapter. Thank you guys so much for reading, once again. I struggled with this one. It's been a while since I've struggled that much on an original fiction work. I've been dedicating so much time to actual work that I haven't had time to write this, but it's finally done. Since I'll be working on my other story, _Dragons of Berk_ for a while, why not follow this story so you get notified when the next chapter is released? Don't forget to follow that one as well, because I'm pretty darn proud of it. See you soon!**


	7. Chapter 7: First Date

**Hey, guys! So it's been a while. I've actually been working on my other story for a little while. If you haven't read it, it's called** ** _Dragons of Berk: How to Train Your Dragon_** **. It's essentially an AU where Hiccup has an adoptive brother named Jack, who was born a dragon, but became a human when he came to Berk. The presence of this OC causes a few things to change here and there, but I'm trying to keep it as close to the original HTTYD plot as possible.**

 **So, we left off with Hiccup and Astrid finally admitting that they like each other, so what happens now? I guess I'll start here:**

* * *

 _Chapter 7  
First Date_

 _4:33 PM  
_ _Friday, November 4, 2016  
_ _Haddock Residence_

If anyone asked Hiccup what his least favorite subject was, he would immediately answer, "Math." Even though it was his best, the class itself was just plain boring. Apparently, Mr. Johann thought a "college preparatory" class had to be filled with lectures and weekly quizzes. The class was structured with 30 minutes of lecture time and 25 minutes of individual or group study. Hiccup took the study time to familiarize himself with the lecture's content, much of which he had already known. He also helped Astrid with her math studies during this time. Astrid appreciated his help, and would often help him with his struggles in their history class in return.

On this evening in particular, Hiccup had just finished taking the final quiz for the week online. Johann used an online service to quiz his students at the end of each week, but due to suspicion that some of the students cheated, he had expressed the week prior that he would switch to in-class paper quizzes come second semester.

Having finished his quiz, he logged out of the website and rolled the chair back. He had taken the quiz on the family PC because his MacBook was being repaired at the local Apple Store. Although he missed the simplicity of using his own computer, he didn't mind using Windows 10 for school tasks. "Well, I'm done," he said, standing up from the chair. "Your turn, Heather."

"Okay." Heather walked over and sat down at the computer chair while Hiccup sat down on the couch. She typed her username and password into the login page and said, "By the way, you're going out with Astrid tomorrow, right?"

Hiccup had been reaching for his Xbox controller, but he stopped short as soon as Heather spoke. "Uh, yeah," he said.

"You haven't told me where you guys are going," said Heather.

"We're going to the pizza parlor," said Hiccup.

Heather scowled and stared at her brother. "Seriously?"

"What?" asked Hiccup.

"We've gone out for pizza with Astrid, Jack and Fishlegs like, three times," said Heather. "Don't you want to do something special?"

Hiccup sat back on the couch. "What do you want me to do? Take her out to the Berk Lake Trail for a picnic?"

"That's not a bad idea," said Heather.

"I wasn't being serious."

"Well, I was," said Heather. "For good reason, too. We have everything you need for a picnic. We have a picnic blanket, sacks for lunches, bread, sandwich ingredients, and everything. Why don't you call her and ask her?"

"Right now?" asked Hiccup.

"That's what I would do," said Heather.

"Okay," said Hiccup. He took his phone out of his pocket and called Astrid.

* * *

 _Hofferson Residence_

Astrid was just closing her laptop when her phone started ringing. She picked it up from the table and looked down at the caller ID. When she saw it was Hiccup, she answered the call and held the phone up to her ear. "Hey, Hiccup. What's up?"

 _"Hi, Astrid! I was wondering if you'd like to go on a picnic instead of getting pizza."_

"That sounds great, but where would we go?" she asked.

 _"Well, I thought maybe we could take our bikes and go out to the Berk Lake Trail. How does that sound?"_

Astrid grinned. "I know the perfect spot," she said.

 _"Really?"_ asked Hiccup. _"Where is it?"_

"I'll show you tomorrow," she said. "What kind of food do you want to bring?"

 _"I figured I'd bring PBJ, grapes and carrots,"_ said Hiccup. _"Does that sound good to you?"_

"Sounds great!" said Astrid. "Hang on, I gotta ask my mom first."

 _"Okay."_

Astrid put the phone down and stood up from the couch. Her mom was in the kitchen, cooking dinner. Steeling herself, Astrid spoke up. "Mom?"

"Yes, Astrid?" Karen looked up from her work.

"Remember that outing I'm going on with Hiccup tomorrow?"

"Yes," said Karen. "Did something happen?"

"Sort of," said Astrid. "Hiccup wants to go on a picnic instead if getting pizza. I thought maybe I'd show him that cove we used to go to when Asher was home."

"How will you get there?" asked Karen.

"Hiccup said we could take our bikes."

"Well, as long as you're careful and you're home before it's dark, I'm fine with it," said Karen.

"Really?" Astrid was genuinely surprised.

"Sure," said Karen. "I trust the boy almost as much as I trust you."

"Thanks, Mom!" said Astrid. With a smile on her face, she walked back to the couch and picked up her phone. "You still there?" she asked.

 _"Yeah."_

"We can go!"

 _"Great! I can come get you at eleven-thirty."_

"Looking forward to it!"

 _"Me, too. I'll see you tomorrow!"_

"See you tomorrow!" Astrid ended the call and put the phone in her pocket. She sat on the couch and smiled at Hiccup's thoughtfulness. She wasn't sure what had changed his mind, but she was glad for whatever it was.

Karen glanced at her daughter and noticed her expression. "You like him a lot, don't you?" she said.

"What do you mean?" asked Astrid.

"You haven't smiled like that in front of me for a long time," said Karen. "I think it has something to do with you going on a date with him."

" _Date!?_ " Astrid's smile faded into a shocked, open-mouthed incredulous expression that her mother wasn't sure what to make of.

"Isn't that what this is?"

When Astrid answered, Karen was shocked to hear her stuttering. "Well, uh, I hadn't really, er, thought of it that way before."

"Did you just stutter?"

"I guess I did... Why are we having this conversation?"

"I've just noticed that you and Hiccup seem to like each other as more than just friends, Astrid," said Karen. "It surprises me that you would think of this 'outing' as anything other than a date."

"Well, if you put it that way, I guess it is, but he hasn't called it that. If I call it a date, I might scare him," said Astrid. When she saw her mother's confused expression, she said, "By that, I mean I don't know if he likes me _that_ much."

"Well, shouldn't that make tomorrow all the more exciting?" asked Karen. "You'll finally find out. The way I see it, you won't be 'just best friends' for much longer."

"That depends on him," said Astrid.

"I suppose it does," said Karen. Her kitchen timer went off and she returned to her cooking. Meanwhile, Astrid considered what her mother had said and hoped she was right.

* * *

 _The next morning, 11:30 AM..._

Hiccup pedaled down Dragonfly Street, bearing a backpack that held the picnic basket and a blanket. There was also a small first aid kit, but that was just in case something happened. He was still nervous, and unsure whether he was jumping the gun by asking Astrid to go out with him. Heather had been a great help to him in overcoming some of the nervousness, but it lingered like a tick.

Before he reached Astrid's house, he noticed Jack jogging in the opposite direction in running clothes. He pulled over to say hello.

"Hey, what's up?" asked Jack.

"Nothing much," said Hiccup. "Going on a picnic with Astrid."

Jack looked surprised. "Really?" he asked. "I thought you were going for pizza."

"Where'd you hear that?" asked Hiccup.

"Nowhere," said Jack. "I wasn't sure, but since our group always goes to _The Pan_ , I figured you'd take Astrid there."

"Well, that's what I was planning to do," said Hiccup, "but Heather intervened yesterday. She said pizza was a bad idea. Anyway, what're you up to?"

"I slept in this morning, so I was late starting my run," said Jack. "When my dad was a kid, he never skipped leg day. I guess you could say I'm following in his footsteps." Upon realizing what he'd said, he stifled a laugh.

"That one was a stretch," said Hiccup, shaking his head.

"If there was a rimshot, you probably would have laughed," said Jack. "It was unintentional, though." He smirked. "My dad and I call each other out for unintentional puns on a daily basis. Most of them are pretty bad; not gonna lie. But when there's a good one, he writes it down and eventually shares it on Twitter."

Hiccup nodded. "Well, I gotta go," he said. "I'm almost late."

"See you Monday, dude!" said Jack. He took off running.

When Hiccup rolled up to the driveway, he loosened and retracted the clamp holding his prosthetic foot in place. He hadn't used it a lot, but on this day, he had chosen to wear a cycling leg that clamped his foot to the pedal so he wouldn't lose control of the bike and fall. He walked up to the doorstep and knocked on Astrid's front door. It opened almost immediately and he was greeted by the face of Astrid's mother, Karen. "Hello, Hiccup."

"Hi, Missus Hofferson," he nervously said. Even though he knew Karen had changed her mind about him and his family, he felt a certain level of distrust towards her.

"Astrid is getting her bike from the garage," said Karen. "She'll be out in a moment."

As if on cue, the garage door opened and Astrid rolled her bike out. After resting it on its kickstand, she finally made eye contact with Hiccup. Smiling broadly, she said, "Hey, Hiccup! Are you ready?"

"Whenever you are," said Hiccup.

"Just remember to be back before dark, okay?" said Karen. "It's dangerous to ride bikes at night without lights, let alone illegal."

"We'll be back before then," said Hiccup. "You don't have to worry about that."

"And whatever you do, don't go past Raven Peak Trail!"

"We won't," said Astrid, closing the garage door with a small remote she'd retrieved from her pocket.

"Raven Peak Trail?" Hiccup repeated. "That's almost forty-five minutes by bicycle. Why would we go that far?"

"Just don't go past that point," said Karen. "Some people say that's where _he_ hides."

Hiccup furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. Astrid was suddenly very close to him as she grabbed his arm and whispered in his ear, "We don't like to talk about you-know-who." He immediately understood what she'd meant.

"Anyway, have fun and take care!" Karen started to retreat into the house.

"Bye!" said Hiccup.

"Bye, Mom," said Astrid. When the door was shut, she let out a sigh of relief.

Hiccup was about to question why Astrid had sighed, but he froze when he met her eyes. They sparkled in the sunlight as her mouth curled upward into a smile. Several awkward seconds passed before he smiled back and let out a nervous laugh. "What?" she asked.

"We're actually doing this!" Hiccup exclaimed.

"Unless you changed your mind just now..." Astrid teased.

"No, no, no," said Hiccup. "I'm not. Let's get going." He mounted his bike and reached down to clamp his foot to the pedal, but the metal arm wouldn't swing all the way around.

Astrid noticed his struggle and asked, "Are you having trouble with that thing?"

"It gets stuck like this sometimes," said Hiccup. "Maybe it needs to be oiled."

"Here." Astrid crouched down to get a better look. "Oh, here! The arm isn't down far enough." She took hold of the arm and pulled it the rest of the way over the pedal before snapping it into place on the toes of the appendage. She then tightened the clamp to a safe degree.

Surprised Astrid was able to figure out how to attach the foot properly, Hiccup said, "Thanks, Astrid."

"I'm always here if you need help, Hiccup," said Astrid. "Remember that."

"Right," said Hiccup. He watched as she mounted her own bike. When she buckled her helmet on, he asked, "So, where are we going?"

Astrid smiled. "Just follow me."

* * *

A short while later, Hiccup was following Astrid down a cycling trail that ran along the state road. He wasn't sure how long they had been on their bikes, but he estimated without looking at his watch that it had been almost 30 minutes. He was glad he'd put on sunscreen, but now wondered whether she had. Knowing Astrid, he was sure she had the foresight to wear it. He now saw from the highway signs how close Raven Peak Trail was.

"Astrid, this is awfully close to the mountain climbing trail!" Hiccup called out. "Where are we going, exactly?"

"We're almost there!" Astrid answered. "It's just at the base of the mountain."

Hiccup took a short glance to his right side and immediately knew where he was. Looking ahead, he saw the base of Raven Peak at the left of the highway. To the right of the highway was a large lake known as Berk Lake. These two landmarks made up Berk City's biggest tourist attraction. Beyond both was a vast forest.

"Get ready to slow down!" said Astrid.

Hiccup slowed his bike down and followed Astrid through the exit of the bike trail. When she stopped, Hiccup stopped next to her and took in his surroundings. He was standing on Berk Lake's sandy shore, which was surprisingly devoid of other visitors. To his left was a cliff at least 20 feet high. "How did you know about this place?" he asked.

"My dad used to take me and my brother here when I was little," said Astrid. "After that, he became a cop. My brother learned how to bike over here on his own, so he took me sometimes, and then he went off to college. I never came back here, because there was no one else to go with."

"I didn't know you had a brother," said Hiccup.

"He's seven years older than me," said Astrid. "His name is Asher. He's a senior at ASU."

"Arizona?" Hiccup was surprised. "It gets so hot there."

"It's hot when the semester starts, but by the second half of October, it feels like what we consider to be summer," said Astrid. She dismounted her bike and took off her helmet. "Anyway, this is the picnic spot I was talking about. Is it alright?"

"It's great!" said Hiccup. He undid the clamp on his prosthetic and dismounted his bike. After taking off the backpack, he took out the basket and spread the blanket on the sand, being careful to move any twigs out from underneath. As he sat down, Astrid followed suit directly next to him. "Are you hungry now, or do you want to wait?" he asked.

"We can eat now," said Astrid. "Besides, I'm pretty sure I heard your stomach rumbling there." Hiccup laughed.

When Hiccup had set up the picnic, he and Astrid sat in silence for a while to eat. Astrid was the first to speak up. "Did you make the sandwiches?" she asked.

"Yeah," said Hiccup. "Do you like it?"

"It's good," said Astrid. "I used to love PBJ when I was little, but my mom doesn't send me to school with it anymore." She finished her sandwich and asked, "What else did you bring?"

"I got some apple slices, grapes and carrots," said Hiccup. He opened the basket and pulled out three bags. "Whatever you'd like." Astrid smiled and took the bag with apple slices. Hiccup suddenly remembered something from before they had left her house. He waited until she finished her first apple slice. "So, how are you doing?"

Astrid grinned and looked at him. "You're asking me that now?"

"No, I mean ... how have you been doing? I mean, since Halloween."

"Oh," said Astrid. "I've been okay, I guess." She paused. "I miss my dad a lot, but ... it hurts less and less every day. You know what I mean?"

"Yeah," said Hiccup. "My grandpa died a few months after I lost my leg. We were really close. He liked trains, so we used to build train track sets in his garage together. I don't know where he got the parts, but he built the tracks and wired everything all by himself. Sometimes there were multiple trains running on the same table set. I helped him out with building the towns and landscape because he didn't really trust me with electrical parts, but he showed me how it all worked."

"Was your grandpa an engineer or something?" asked Astrid.

"Sort of," said Hiccup. "Before he retired, he did railroad maintenance. I still think of him whenever I see the train station. It's been three years, but I still miss him. Still, I can't imagine what you're going through right now."

"I'm doing better, Hiccup," said Astrid, putting her hand on his shoulder. "I was just having a bad day, and when we had that lockdown, I panicked. I'm sorry I yelled at you."

"It's okay," said Hiccup. "I would have probably done the same thing."

Astrid suddenly gazed past Hiccup. She put a finger over her lips in a "shush" motion and pointed toward the woods by the trail. Hiccup followed her finger and saw what she was pointing at. It was hard to see through the bushes and trees, but a lone doe was walking through the woods with her fawn trailing slowly behind her.

"Wow," Hiccup whispered. He heard a soft click and turned back towards Astrid, surprised to see her holding a small digital camera. The click wasn't loud enough to startle the deer, but the mother had turned her head upon hearing the sound. Astrid quietly turned off the camera and continued to watch the animals. Eventually, they retreated into the woods.

"That was so cool!" said Astrid. She turned her camera back on and pulled up the picture. The photo had a near perfect profile of the doe's face and the baby stood directly behind her.

"That's a great picture," said Hiccup. "Where'd that camera come from?"

"I had it in my belt pouch the whole time," said Astrid. She put the camera away. "So, I gotta ask you. How have you been doing? You know, with Stanley."

"Stanley isn't as mean as he has been," said Hiccup. "I mean, he still gives me a hard time, but it's not so bad. I think the worst he's done this week is call me a nerd."

"What for?" she asked.

"Well, he and I got into a conversation about video games yesterday," said Hiccup. "I guess when it comes to video games, he and I have very different interests. He plays Dark Souls and other dark-themed games, but those are a bit too much for me. I like games I can build stuff and solve puzzles in. Minecraft was the first thing that came to my mind, and he called me a nerd."

"Well, he'll have to call me a nerd, too," Astrid laughed. "I've played Minecraft with you, and he knows that. Still, it's good to know he's not bugging you as much as he was."

"Yeah," said Hiccup. "I'm really glad we're friends, Astrid." He noticed her smile fade slightly when he said that. "What's wrong?"

"I thought we were more than that," said Astrid.

"We are!" said Hiccup. "I wouldn't have invited you on a date if you were just a friend!"

"You mean..." Astrid couldn't find the words. Her face turned pink.

"I thought we had already established that we like each other," said Hiccup, starting to blush as well.

"Stop it," said Astrid.

"Stop what?" asked Hiccup.

"Stop making this more awkward."

"How?"

She scooted closer to him and said, "Stop talking and hold me."

Hiccup was very confused when she said that, but he complied, putting and arm around her. She reciprocated his actions and leaned her head on his shoulder. At first, Hiccup felt awkward in this position, but the awkwardness faded when she said, "I guess our friends were right about us, huh?"

Hiccup cracked a smile and took Astrid's hand in his free one. There they stayed, silently listening to the sounds of the forest.

* * *

By the time Hiccup went home that evening, he and Astrid had bonded much more strongly than before. They took a biking trail along Berk Lake on the way home, and Hiccup even took her through a scenic route home, skipping the city streets almost entirely. The sun was just touching the horizon as they bid each other goodnight on Astrid's driveway. Feeling their day was yet incomplete, Hiccup leaned forward and kissed Astrid's cheek, despite both of them feeling sweaty and dirty.

"See you Monday, Astrid," he whispered.

"Why are you whispering?" Astrid whispered back.

"I don't know. I guess I'm just feeling really gentle right now."

Astrid grinned and pressed her lips to his cheek to return his actions. "See you then," she said.

When Hiccup arrived home, his sister asked how it had gone. In reply, he said to her, "You know how I always hate being wrong whenever we argue?"

"Yeah." She seemed confused.

Hiccup grinned. "I'm glad I was wrong this time," he said. "Heather, I think I am starting to fall in love with Astrid."

* * *

 **Sorry for the long delay and abrupt ending! I hit some serious writer's block while working on this, and I wasn't sure how to wrap it up, so this is what I came up with.**

 **Similar to the first chapter, I had a personal anecdote for part of this one. My great uncle on my mom's side (my mother's brother's wife's father) loved trains, and he built miniature train sets in his garage. He had a control panel for the town lighting on the table sets, and even a dial to control the speed of the trains. Unfortunately, we lived so far apart that I rarely saw him, so I never got to help him out with it. He died recently due to health conditions.**

 **In case you're wondering, I suppose this story technically went on hiatus, along with my other one. I've been very busy lately. In the coming months, I'll have more time to write, but if you're enjoying this, don't forget to follow the story and let me know what you think by leaving a review. The next chapter will probably be shorter and sooner. Bye!**


	8. I'm sorry

_Hi, guys. I'm sorry for leaving this story where it is, but I'm discontinuing/putting this on hiatus for now. I might come back to it later on, but I've lost the motivation, and I'm super busy with college. There is a possibility that I'll write the following chapters on my own time throughout the year and upload them as I finish them, but I'm really not sure which direction to go with this story in particular._

 _Just so you're aware, I'm continuing **Dragons of Berk** and **The Lost Kingdom** soon. Both haven't been updated in a while, but I'll get around to it soon. This is the first time in a few weeks I've had the drive to do any creative writing. I know where I want to go with **Dragons of Berk** , but **The Lost Kingdom** is a little less clear._

 _Again, I'm sorry for those of you who really wanted to see me finish this. If you've followed or favorited this story, I advise against removing it from your list, because there is a chance I'll pick it up later, when I'm not under as much pressure. Catch you on the flipside, and thank you for reading thus far!_


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